The Chauvinistic Stag
by Heraclas
Summary: J/L MWPP: James and his stupid snitch, stupid hair, and stupid attitude drive Lily Evans mad, yet James is dying for Lily to like him. After months of reformation, will his dreams ever come true? *Epilogue added. The End! :D*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey hey everyone! First off, THANKS for checking out my James/Lily story! I started writing this story back in 2003 *gasp* and totally quit after about two chapters. Well, I re-read it last September, was totally re-inspiried, and I've been updating frequently ever since. And I'll keep updating until it's completed: my promise to you. **

**Side note on me: My true aspiration is to become a novelist (I LOVE to write). Unfortunately, I know I definitely need a lot of work, but that's where you can help! Any guesses? ... REVIEWS, duh! Any feedback will help me to figure out what readers like and what they don't, and I'm equally interested in both. So whatever you're thinking when you're done reading, if you could jot it down for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Feel free to give me the bad or the ugly… I can deal, and I will thank you for it.**

**So, in conclusion, I'll trade you my James and Lily story for some reviews… mk? Deal! **

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 1_

At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, transfiguration was one of the hardest branches of magic for most students to master. The precise wand movement, imperturbable concentration, and tongue-tying incantation needed to conquer the complexity of a spell contributed to the difficulty of the subject, making transfiguration one of the least-liked classes in the school. And with the new and strict Professor McGonagall, no student was exactly thrilled to attend the excessively challenging and altogether demoralizing lessons three-times-a-week. All except, perhaps, James Potter and Sirius Black.

James and Sirius were widely renowned throughout Hogwarts. James, with his messy black hair, large hazel eyes, and slightly skinny, but fitted physique, acquired quite a fan club from the start of his second year when he was elected seeker of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Sirius Black, made beater the following year, was commonly known to make girls drool as he passed, his dark brown hair always falling perfectly into his chocolate eyes and his masculine physique intimidating passerby. However, if they weren't recognized for their meddlesome personalities, mouth-watering sex appeal, or skills on the quidditch pitch, someone always managed to point out James's twelve and Sirius's ten OWLs achieved at the end of the previous year. The entire female population was obviously deeply impressed by this duo. Brains, athleticism, good looks... I mean, honestly, who wouldn't be?

Lily Evans was also a sixth year. She had deep, thick red hair and almond-shaped green eyes. She was pretty and popular, and regarded highly among her peers. She had a bright mind, was a Gryffindor prefect, and rather enjoyed playing Wizard's Chess, although she rarely found an opponent as it was common knowledge she was impossible to beat. More importantly, however, Lily Evans was the one student in the school who was not deeply impressed by James Potter and his cronies. Actually, his cronies weren't entirely horrible... James was the wretched, maniacal leader of the group. Always ruffling his hair, playing with that damned snitch, and asking her out every other second of the day, Lily found his actions annoying and rather egotistical. And his treatment of Severus, who had been her friend even before she had started school, was not much to brood about either. What was his nickname for him? Snivellus? Disgusting...

At the moment, however, James was not letting the little golden ball flutter a few feet in front of him before snatching it into his chest, Lily was not defending Snape from Hogwarts' bullies, and Sirius was not lounging in his chair, being as sexy as possible. James, Sirius and Lily were all listening intently to Professor McGonagall in their last class of transfiguration before final exams. At least, Lily was listening intently. James and Sirius were fidgeting with a piece of shabby parchment under their desks in the row in front of her, muttering a little too loudly for their own good.

"Filch there yet?" Lily heard James ask.

Sirius shook his head. "He's on the fourth floor, and Mrs. Norris is in the Dungeons."

"We've got to go close it. I can't believe you left it open, Sirius," James continued.

"I had a few too many firewhiskies... you know that bartender down at the Hog's Head. He'll give you anything you like," Sirius shrugged.

"Filch already knows four though. You'd just better hope this one's not found-"

"You have something more important to say than me, boys?" Professor McGonagall interrupted, peering at them over her spectacles.

James and Sirius looked up appearing unbothered, shook their heads, and picked up their quills.

"You would think with final exams next week and NEWTs in only a year, all 6th year pupils would find it necessary to pay attention during class," she continued, looking at the boys scathingly, before turning around. But as soon as Professor McGonagall had turned her back on the class to continue teaching, Lily noticed how hurriedly James muttered something and flicked his wand, then threw the parchment into his bookbag.

Intrigued, Lily strained to get a better look at the grubby and torn sheet of paper, but her 16, almost 17-year-old eyes seemed to be wearing out on her, or else the paper was perfectly normal. Lily looked at the girl sitting next to her, Kylie Sanders, her best friend of six years since her first day at Hogwarts. Kylie was very pretty with blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, but at the moment she was passed out on her desk. Lily expected she had had a few too many firewhiskies with Sirius, for they'd been unofficially dating and denying their feelings for each other for the past three weeks. Lily slowly looked around to see that no one was watching.

"Accio Parchment!" she muttered under her desk, making the paper fly into her opened hand. Smiling with satisfaction, Lily unrolled the parchment that both James and Sirius had been so intently discussing.

"Uhh..." Lily heard herself mumble under her breath as she stared at the grubby, dirty, but entirely blank piece of paper. She glanced around the room and at the professor to make sure everyone was still intrigued by the lesson. Then, she pulled out her Revealer from Diagon Alley and rubbed the large red eraser across the middle. Nothing happened. Lily grabbed her quill and added a dab of ink to the corner. Nothing happened, except the ink gleamed brightly and permanently back at her. Growing slightly frustrated, Lily pulled out her wand and muttered, "I, Lily Evans, command you to show your secret!"

Immediately, the ink in the corner vanished and large curly letters began to appear down the page, and Lily almost gasped loudly as she read the inappropriate comments.

_Mr Padfoot presents his compliments to Miss Evans, for she is very pretty, though he'll never look twice at her for she belongs with Mr Prongs._

_Mr Wormtail wonders where Ms Evans inherited her lovely smile, brilliant eyes, and billowing hair, for Mr Prongs has great taste._

_Mr Moony agrees with both Mr Padfoot and Mr Wormtail, and would like to add that if Mr Prongs mutters "Lily Evans" in his dreams one more time he is going to bash his own head in with a broomstick so he'll be knocked out and finally able to obtain some peaceful sleep._

_Mr Prongs would like to ask, Lily Evans will you ever go out with me?_

Lily wrinkled her nose in deep disgust. Disturbed by the obscure parchment in front of her, she shoved it into her bag and returned her attention to Professor McGonagall's lecture. As the bell rang to signal the end of class, Lily nudged Kylie to awaken her from her deep stupor and pulled out the parchment still glowing brightly with the same comments as 20 minutes before. She walked straight over to James's desk and glowered at him irritably.

"Very subtle, Mr Prongs," she said, and she threw the paper into his hands.

James gaped at her. How did she have their map? He had put it in his bookbag halfway through the period. He looked at Sirius in disbelief, then read the parchment, his eyes widening as they scrolled down the page. When he read the last line, he pointed at it and smiled sheepishly up at her.

"So what do you say, Evans?"

"Get a clue, Potter. I don't date chauvinistic pigs. You know that," she said, her eyes narrowing and lips going thin.

James shrugged, "Yeah. You may have mentioned it a few times before. Though you should know, I'm not a pig. I'm a stag. So how about it, Evans? Will you go out with a chauvinistic stag?"

Sirius laughed loudly and Lily raised her eyebrows, relatively confused. "Not a chance, Potter," she snapped, rolling her eyes and stalking away to where Kylie was stumbling dangerously toward the door.

After Lily exited, James turned to his best friend with a much different look in his eyes. For the first time in his life, James appeared lost and defeated, hardly able to sigh, "It's hopeless isn't it? She'll never want to date me."

Shocked by his friend's helplessness, Sirius stared at James for a moment, virtually stunned. Where did high-and-mighty James go?

"Come on. We've got to check that passageway," Sirius muttered, hoping to change the subject and alleviate his best friend's gloom.

************

After a week's time, Lily, James, Sirius, and the rest of Hogwarts all scraped through their final exams, and lazily awaited for their scores to return. With a week of free time and the promise of hot summer weather, few students remained in the castle. Of the few students, however, James remained idle in his dorm-room, pacing the floor, lying on his bed, standing on his hands, all in attempt to think of some possible way to win Lily over.

"There has to be a way," he muttered, pacing the floor for the millionth time that day. "There just has to. She has to see some good qualities in me, and I can change the bad... Ugh... That's a long list to change... Hmm... Maybe I should write them all down? Yeah yeah. Good idea, James."

He mentally patted himself on the back, pulled out his quill and parchment, and began writing.

**Ways to Improve My Chances With Lily Evans**

**1. Stop ruffling my hair.**

**2. Stop playing with the snitch.**

**3. Leave Snape alone.**

**4. Stop asking her out no matter the temptation.**

**5. Pay attention in class (or at least appear to).**

**6. Let her beat me on a couple transfiguration tests.**

**7. Acknowledge that Remus is a prefect and respect his duty.**

**8. Reduce the number of pranks around the school.**

**9. Appear more composed, mature, and studious.**

**10. Improve at chess.**

James stopped writing immediately. Improve at chess? Why hadn't he thought of it before? Lily was always looking for a decent chess opponent. Why couldn't he be that person? If he gave her a good game she would have to look at him in better light! Genius! He bounced over to Remus' bed and pulled his chess board out from under the mattress. He opened up the box with excitement and picked up a black pawn.

"Now what's your purpose, little guy?" the piece quivered to life and jabbed him with his sword.

An hour later, Sirius, Remus and Peter were just returning from an eventful stroll around the lake (which consisted of flirting with much of the female population) when they heard a muffled groan from inside their dorm.

"Oh geez. What has he gone and done this time?" Sirius sighed, jumping up the stairs in two's. Remus got to the door first and pushed it open, preparing himself for whatever James could have possibly accomplished in the short time the three boys had been out.

James was sitting with his back to the gang, and from first appearance, looked perfectly normal; his hair was messy, his clothes were wrinkled, his shoulders were slumped to a minor degree. But as soon as James swiveled on the spot, Remus gasped, Sirius jumped, and Peter let out a muffled scream.

Chess pieces, both black and white, were clamped all over James's body. Two black pawns were attempting to knife his left ear, the white queen was taking swipes at his nose, both white side castles were head-butting his forehead, and all four knights were ripping at his shirt. "Help me!" he cried.

Remus and Peter rushed over to James's rescue, but Sirius stood at the door, a look of shock still on his face. Then, without warning, he just started to laugh. He kept laughing so hard he was soon on the floor kicking his feet trying to hold back the tears from his eyes. He then jumped up quickly and rushed over to his bed, tearing apart the sheets and covers.

"Now where is the wretched little thing? Ah, yes... Muggles... We should give them more credit." He picked up a camera and looked at the three boys in front of him.

"You filthy bastard, Sirius. You wouldn't dare," James growled, before yelping as Peter tried to grab at a particularly violent knight ravaging his left shoulder.

"Sorry, mate, but this most definitely is a picture perfect moment. Now smile!"

James glowered at the camera as both Remus and Peter looked up, trying hard not to laugh along with Sirius. Sirius clicked the little button and the three boys were temporarily blinded by the flash. Apparently, however, so were the chess pieces and they all fell off James as though electrically shocked.

James jumped up and dragged his hands over his finally free nose, ears, and upper body, ensuring that everything was in fact still there and in tact. Then he turned to Sirius, his eyes narrowed. "Now I don't know whether to thank you or kill you. If you even attempt to get that picture developed-"

"Relax, James. There weren't any pictures left to take on the camera. See? It's at zero," Sirius interrupted.

James looked at the camera relieved, then bent down to pick up the still dazed chess pieces and put them back in their container. Remus however caught Sirius's eye and gave him a small smile. He knew there'd been one picture left on that camera, that's why the film hadn't yet been developed. Sirius mocked a silent evil laugh while James's back was still turned and Peter sniggered loudly.

James turned around staring suspiciously at his friends. "What?"

Sirius shrugged casually, his hair falling into his eyes. "We were just wondering James, what in the bloody hell were you doing?"

James looked at his best mates, a sheepish grin on his face. "I... I simply would like to learn how to play chess."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "And why is that?"

James shrugged his shoulders and replied blankly, "Just because."

Sirius laughed. "Nice try, mate, but you're gonna have to do better than that. What's the real reason?"

"Why even ask?" Remus interrupted. "It's obvious it's Lily." Remus picked up a piece of paper of James's nightstand and read it aloud. "'Ways To Improve My Chances With Lily Evans. One, stop ruffling my hair-"

"Shut it," James snapped.

But Remus continued, "And look it ends at 'ten: improve at chess.'"

Sirius snatched the list as Peter leaned around him, both boys glancing down the page shaking with laughter.

"Somebody's whipped!" Sirius howled, slapping his knee to support his hysterical body.

James glowered and slumped down onto his bed. "I am not whipped. I just have a small infatuation with Lily Evans, and if modifying a few things about myself will improve my chances with her, then I'm going to pursue every single one of those options."

Sirius shook his head and sat down next to James. "Why is it you're only interested in the one girl who doesn't like you back?"

James laid back and stared up at the red canopy over his four-poster-bed. He paused a moment then mumbled, "Because she's perfect. Everything about her is just perfect."

**A/N: Well... That's the first chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed. ;) If you review, I will REALLY appreciate it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Heyyyy. A million apologies for taking way too long with this chapter. I'm committed now though, I swear, and I won't quit on this story until it's finished. Thank you so much to all of you who gave me such supportive reviews! Truly appreciate it!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 2_

The summer days were growing hot and tedious for James Potter. Every morning he would wake up around 9 o'clock, complete his mother's abysmal list of chores, then attempt to retreat to the shade of an excessively large mulberry bush. But every day he would come to find, as he laid in the cool grass beneath the seemingly (and probably) bewitched plant of red and gold, that he'd sweat even more profusely as he scrunched his forehead to minimize the headache engulfing his brain as he failed, and failed, and failed to defeat a set of chess pieces.

On a particularly scorching day, James found his patience had reached a limit. After losing for what must have been, at least, the fourteen-thousandth time, James chucked the pieces so high into the air, for all he could tell, they never actually fell back to earth. To him, it appeared they simply continued to float away like a pack of helium balloons, so high and far into an endless blue with no chance of return.

Upset at himself for "throwing away" his only set of chess pieces, James huffed slightly as he grabbed parchment and a quill and sent Remus a note declaring his dire need for help... and a new chess set.

For the past month, Sirius had also been living with James. As he had been disowned by his own family, a pack of Slytherin-proud muggle-born haters, the Potters' had gladly taken him in, though not without consequence. Sirius was a very respectful guest, as he cleaned up after himself, and helped James with a good deal of his chores, but Mr. Potter was finding his pockets rather dry from all the food he had to buy for Sirius's never-ceasing appetite. Sirius himself ate more than the rest of the family combined, and thus, Mrs. Potter found herself in the kitchen nearly twice as long to prepare a meal, which wasn't a very productive use of her time. All in all, the Potter's found themselves very excited when the Hogwarts letters arrived, reminding them that shortly, their son and his best friend would return to school where their appetites would be at the disposal of the house elves' works of wonder in the school kitchens.

Around 1 o'clock, James slumped into the dining room, followed shortly by Sirius, who was sweating quite profusely.

"We don't give them enough credit, muggles," he said. "This sport, futterball, really is quite innovative." Sirius brandished his wand at the ball, making it bounce off the ceiling and floor.

James rolled his eyes. "It's called football, mate, and let me remind you, you're supposed to use your feet. Hence the name _foot_ball."

Sirius shrugged. "So what's for lunch, Mrs. P? I'm starving."

Mrs. Potter inwardly groaned and started making a turkey sandwich to add to Sirius's plate of tuna salad, toast, chips, carrots, peas, steak and kidney pie, and mashed potatoes. Sirius and James patiently waited for her to finish, thanked her when she served them, and Sirius began shoveling his meal into his seemingly famished body. James on the other hand appeared quite uninclined to eat.

"You alright, dear?" Mrs. Potter asked, noticing her son's distress. James shrugged and took a bite of his meal, trying to compose himself in front of his mother.

"Well, if it cheers you up at all, Hogwarts letters have arrived," she added brightly, and passed them out to the two boys.

Sirius and James both opened their letters nonchalantly. Having already received six letters previously, neither expected to find much inside other than a list reminding them that they had to buy _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7_. James, however, had an added piece of parchment and a small surprise that clinked across the table as the envelope ripped open, immediately deleting all thoughts of Lily from his mind.

"What was that?" Sirius asked as his eyebrows furrowed curiously. He stretched out and picked up the tin badge that had landed in front of him.

"Head Boy," he stuttered shocked, and stared at James.

James stared down at the formal letter in his hands, clearly addressed to him. "You have been elected as Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he quoted, turning to stare at Sirius flabbergasted.

"They're mad," James said. "They're bloody howling. Me? Head Boy?"

Sirius looked at James, a slow smile creeping upon his lips. Within seconds, Sirius was laughing so hard that Mrs. Potter came in from the room next door to see the cause of the raucous. James handed her the letter, white and unable to speak. He was suddenly feeling very sick.

"Oh my, James! Head Boy! What an honor! I must run and tell your father," she gasped, throwing her arms around her son before running out of the room to send an owl to her husband.

James gave his head a little shake and stared back at Sirius, not finding the situation nearly as entertaining. "What on earth are they thinking? I'm probably the worst role-model that school has ever seen. Okay, you might be the worst role-model the school has ever seen, but I'm most definitely second. How on earth could they possibly even fathom me for such a position?"

Sirius shrugged, still shaking with laugher.

"It's punishment, isn't it?" James went on. "As Head Boy I'm absolutely not supposed to pull any pranks, so by binding me with this responsibility I'm bound to come clean this year."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at his best friend. "Oh shove it, James. We both know that would never happen. James Potter not pulling pranks? Not even as headmaster of the school could you resist dungbombing the Slytherins."

James thought for a moment, and nodded in agreement, although he could not help but pity himself for enduring such a horrible day. Not only had he driven himself mad with thoughts of Lily Evans, but he had also lost his only chess set and now been made Head Boy, a position that entirely did not fit his character. He glanced over at Sirius, who was now trying to contain his laughter by breathing long and deeply.

If you did look at the situation from Sirius's point of view, it really was quite humorous. How could Dumbledore be _this_ off his rocker? And suddenly, James found himself laughing just as hard as Sirius had been. Soon they were both on the floor, gasping for air. And at that moment, James promised himself that Lily would not interfere with his thoughts any longer. He was not going to reform his personality simply for her enjoyment, and he was most definitely not going to become the perfect Head Boy that usually led the student population. He was going to look at life more like Sirius did; like a giant joke. This year, Hogwarts was going to see a duo of pranksters unlike any they had ever seen.

***************

On September the first, James was very tentative to leave Sirius, Peter, and Remus to ride up in the front car. Only when an announcement traveled through the entire train calling for the Head Boy, did Remus convince James to accept his new responsibilities and make his way to the front carriage. James slowly dragged his feet as he trudged up the train, taking his badge out of his pocket and finally pinning it to the front of his robes. As he was finishing latching the formidable piece of tin, the front carriage door slid open, only to reveal Lily Evans.

"What are you doing, Potter?" she asked irritably, before her eyes traveled down to where his fingers were fiddling with the badge. "No way..." she gasped.

James glanced up at her, and noticed a sparkle of silver on her chest, too. Lily was Head Girl. Truth be told, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He had been so shocked by the fact that he was elected to be Head Boy that he had not even cared to find out who was Head Girl, yet it was obvious she was fit for the position anyway.

"No effing way," she said again. "Wait, another prank, isn't it? Where's Remus at? I can't believe he allowed you to abuse his badge like this. You'll never change will you, Potter." Her eyes flashed as she glanced down the car for Remus.

James stared at Lily, realizing working with Lily as Head Girl was not going to make for a very enjoyable situation. She obviously still hated every ounce of him as much as she had the previous year. However, he was not in the mood to deal with any of her false accusations; thus he strode past her and sat down in the compartment without another word.

Lily stared slightly flabbergasted at the spot where James had been. James had just avoided an opportunity for retaliation? She gave herself one second to regain her composure, and turned to where James sat.

"Now really, Potter, I want no funny business from you this year. Why are you here?" she narrowed her eyes at him accusingly.

James slumped down in his seat and rolled his eyes. He had promised himself he would not fuss over Lily Evans any longer. And although she looked stunning as always, with her dark red hair billowing in a plethora of curls, and her vivid green eyes twinkling with... erm.. anger, he restrained himself from showing her even the slightest amount of flattery.

"Evans, the badge is mine," he said simply, and he turned and looked out the window.

Lily was now becoming moderately flustered. Hadn't James always had a smart remark in every situation, and if not, ended the conversation by asking her out? Today James seemed not to care to even make an addition to the conversation, let alone participate in it. And soon Lily found herself not only confused as to who was the actual Head Boy, but befuddled as to why James was acting so differently. Were his feelings perhaps gone for her? She sat down opposite him, her head spinning with thoughts as she tried to pinpoint exactly why she felt... was that disappointment?

A good deal of time passed before James discontinued looking out the window, and took a chance and glanced at Lily. She was staring at her hands, her brow furrowed, muttering silently. If they were on old terms, he would have laughed at her and shot her a wise remark, but instead James stared at her just as confused and silent. He knew that to omit Lily from his thoughts, he'd have to omit her from as much of his life as possible. However, at that moment, he realized how incredibly hard that was actually going to be, especially this year, as they were both Heads of the school. How often would he have to see her? Even worse, how often would he have to work with her? And on what sort of projects? James groaned and slid down his seat, aware of the fact that being Head Boy was going to be even worse than he initially conceived.

It was James groan that pulled Lily out of her stupor, and she happened a glance at him. He was back staring out the window with an extremely pained look on his face. His fingers were absentmindedly tracing his badge, and his glasses were hanging on his nose slightly askew. This was the quietest and most miserable Lily had ever seen James, and she still could not decide whether he was a splendid actor or possibly telling the truth. A prank would not carry on this long, would it? As Head Girl, Lily wanted to address a few concerns for the upcoming year with the Head Boy, and basically ensure that they were on the same page, but she did not want to waste her time if James was simply playing her for a fool once again. Surely the actual Head Boy would have shown up by now if James were not the real deal? Lily sighed, causing James to look at her, instead of out the window.

"Erm... Potter," she began. "You swear to me that you are not pulling my leg?"

James rolled his eyes. "This is the last place I want to be, Evans. I'm only here because I have to be."

Lily disguised the hurt she felt from that comment and pulled out a sheet of parchment. "Well, there were a few things I wanted to discuss with the Head Boy, I mean you, before we actually arrived at school."

James stared at her as acknowledgement for her to continue.

"Firstly, on deducting house points, no abusing that privilege, right? If we bring on a situation ourselves, neither of us will turn around and dock the person because we're mad at them. And really, let's just try to keep deducting house points to a minimum. It doesn't generally make anyone happy, and the teachers know best when house points should be lost anyway."

"Sure, Evans, don't deduct house points," James replied seemingly uninterested.

"Okay," Lily continued, slightly disheartened. "Secondly, on password changes, make sure to relay the changes immediately to the prefects and be very wary of the younger students who you tell. If they're not in Gryffindor robes, a lot of the first and second years especially can look alike, so just keep an eye out."

"Passwords, tell the prefects and be careful when telling the little kids," James repeated, strumming his fingers on the windowsill, obviously bored.

"Thirdly, always attend any meetings scheduled by the teachers and headmaster. If you're sick or something, that's one thing. But it's really important that we're there regularly to set an example for the other prefects who could be Head Boy or Girl next year."

"Go to meetings," James sighed. "Anything else, Evans?"

"Yes," she started. Lily was tempted to ask him to stop calling her by her last name, but instead decided to make a more personal request on his part. "James, please don't pull any pranks this year."

James looked up at Lily disgusted. "Evans, this is my last year at Hogwarts. You can't expect me to leave without a few bangs."

"Please James, really. You've been chosen for a very honorable position-"

"A position that I did not ask for," James cut in. "Trust me, Evans, I was much more shocked when I received the letter than you were when you saw me come into this compartment. I am not going to reform simply because I was given some silly badge and a few more responsibilities."

"This silly badge is actually very important to me and many other people," Lily retaliated, offended that he could feel so spiteful towards such a renowned title at Hogwarts.

"Well woop-dee-doo, because other people think it is important, of course it has to be important to me too," James replied sarcastically.

Lily huffed slightly. She had been so excited to be Head Girl, and she now realized what a trip it was going to be to work alongside James. He was going to ruin everything for her for the entire year, starting now with the train ride to Hogwarts. "Ya know? You don't have to be so bloody selfish."

"Selfish!" James scowled. "I didn't want the position! If I could, I would give it away."

"James, you are entirely too thick," Lily replied, and turned her back so she no longer had to look at him. James turned his head and again stared out the window.

Within a few hours the train crawled to a stop, and so the term began of Lily and James' seventh year at Hogwarts.

**A/N: Reviews make the world a better place. :) ie., They help writers become better writers, in turn, making fanfiction suck less. Click that button and do your part!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I take my laptop to class, just for fanfiction. Lecture notes? No way.**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 3_

Lily trudged up the stairs from the Great Hall grumbling. Being Head Girl alongside James just plain… _sucked_. His attitude at the Welcoming Feast had not improved since the train ride and he was an embarrassment to all previous Heads of Hogwarts. As Head Boy, one is supposed to exemplify model behavior, not slip frog spawn in a first year's soup and horrify his already extremely nervous body perhaps beyond repair. Likewise, he is supposed to be attentive during Dumbledore's speech, and not downplay the strict rules against going into the forest, making it appear to the unsuspecting younger students that the most dangerous creature one could meet would be a baby unicorn. James even muttered an incantation "spilling" pumpkin juice all down Severus's front, much to the enjoyment of a good portion of the Gryffindor table. Professor McGonagall of course immediately identified James as the culprit, however, and landed him with a detention. A detention! On the first day of school, the_ Head Boy_ received a detention. Lily really could not see how Dumbledore could have elected James for this position. So what if James earned twelve O.W.L.s! What of having a decent personality?

"Hey, let these first years catch their breath," James said, awakening Lily from her flustered state and reminding her that she was leading new students to the dormitory. "You're walking like a madman's behind you."

"He's not behind me, he's next to me," Lily replied sharply.

James laughed lightly. "Come off it, Evans. It was just some welcome back cheer. It was the last Welcome Feast I'll ever attend. I had to do something spontaneous to remember it."

"Thanks to your spontaneity I'll definitely remember it... As the worst, most embarrassing Feast I ever went to," Lily grumbled. "So since every event this year at Hogwarts is going to be your last, do you have to do something stupid, immature, and completely un-Head-Boy-like to remember it?

"I say, Evans, that's not a bad idea," James smiled. "Since tomorrow September the 2nd will be my last September the 2nd at Hogwarts, and then the next day September the 3rd will be my last September the 3rd, and the next day -well you get the picture," he tossed his head and ran his fingers through his hair lazily, "I'll just have to do something exciting from today forward."

Lily glared at James, her eyes so narrowed she could barely see him. She had been wrong on the train, she realized. He hadn't change one bit since she'd last seen him.

"Password?" came the voice of the Fat Lady. They had arrived at the portrait hole.

"Thistle Thorns," James said loudly for the first years to hear, as Lily was too angry to speak. She stalked straight up to her dormitory without a second glance at him as soon as they entered through the portrait hole. James could not identify his precise feelings at the moment, and after he steered the first years up to their sleeping quarters, he stumbled up his staircase and reclined on his four post bed.

He was working so hard not to still like Lily... yet actually seeing her made it far more difficult. Last year he promised himself he would change for Lily. But when he received his Head Boy letter, he assured himself he would keep every messy hair on his head the exact same. Now, however, he was moderately combining a bit of both worlds. Granted, he had not changed as he had proposed he would in the list he made at the end of last year, but he did change in that he was treating Lily more miserably than ever before. And he had stayed the same in that he was pulling a couple pranks, still torturing Snivellus, and ruffling his hair irresistibly.

James turned over on his stomach and slammed his fist into his pillow as he thought of Lily's many different faces; the furrowed, concentrated look she always took in class, the bright, engaging smile that accompanied her when she was with her girlfriends, and the sarcastic, annoyed, and exasperated glare whenever she was near him, James. Who was he fooling anyway by liking her in the first place? She obviously loathed him more than any other being on the planet. "I will get over Lily Evans," he said forcefully to no one but himself.

"Pray you do, mate. Though I bet 10 galleons it doesn't happen."

Sirius had just walked in, shortly followed by Remus and Peter.

James glowered at his friends. "She drives me mad! I can't even begin to describe to you how miserable our train ride over here was, yet here I am, still damn-well crazy about her. What the bloody hell is wrong with me?"

Remus looked at his friend almost pitifully. "You've liked her this long, there's no way you're just going to simply get over her quickly."

James looked at Remus and shook his head. "I'm not going to change anything about me for a girl. I want Lily to like me for me."

Remus looked at James with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Ohhh... Moony's wheels are turning. What's up Remus?" Sirius asked noticing his friend's concentration.

"I was just thinking," Remus started. "How well does Lily know you, James? And I mean the real you?"

James shrugged. "We've attended the same school for seven years now... I imagine she knows me pretty well."

"Really?" Remus asked, nodding slightly as though realizing something. "And what do you think she thinks you do in your spare time?"

"I don't know... probably plan out my next prank, which seems to be the only thing she thinks I'm good at."

"Precisely," Remus stated. "And we know," he said as he motioned to Peter, Sirius and himself, "that you do a lot more than just plan out pranks. What consumed most of your time your second through fifth year?"

"The animagus transfiguration," James replied.

"And what did you work on after that?" Remus continued.

"Well, mostly the Marauder's Map," James shrugged.

"Which is only the most genius piece of parchment in history," Sirius added.

"And on top of all that," Peter said, "you've become the best seeker this school has seen in years and maintained such high grades that your Head Boy."

"In short, Lily knows nothing about you. You simply need to let her in on who you actually are, and then, only then, will you be able to win her over with your stunning personality or get over her because you'll know she doesn't like you who you truly are," Remus said.

"Profound, Moony," Sirius said.

James shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt, but how am I supposed to do that?"

"Just act around her as you do around us," Remus stated, just as James belched.

"Well, not exactly like you do around us," Sirius added. James smiled guiltily.

**********

Classes started just as they usually do at Hogwarts. The seventh years, although they knew their classes would not be easy with N.E.W.T.s approaching, were not at all pleased with the intensity of their schedules for their final year. Although they were in fewer classes than they had been fifth year, the magic they were now learning was so complex that hours had to be employed every night just to master the day's lesson. And of course, James and Lily were in almost all of the same classes.

Going to potions, charms, defense against the dark arts, and transfiguration meant they had to face each other at least three-times-a-day four-times-a-week. James of course found this good for his plan. Lily, on the other hand, was not so fond of the conflict of schedule.

Today, James and Lily found themselves in Potions. Lily was sitting with her best friends, Britta and Kylie, who naturally were also fellow gryffindors. Lily was doing her best to ignore James, which she actually found to be moderately easy since the Welcoming Feast. For the first few days of term, James had not been the obnoxious fool he epitomized on their first night back. He was more quiet and contemplative, qualities that would have left Lily contemplative if she chose to care about James' existence.

James was, in fact, toning down his exuberant personality, though not intentionally. For the past few days, James had been trying to decipher precisely how to show Lily his true character. He was at a slight roadblock though in that Lily wanted nothing to do with his misperceived personality, which was all she really knew. For the time being, James decided to treat Lily like he did most other people at Hogwarts, which basically meant ignoring her.

"You have to talk to her eventually, you know," Sirius mumbled so Lily could not hear. "That's the only way the plan will ever transpire."

"I know," replied James. "Hey Evans, would you mind passing those snails?"

Lily did as she was asked and that was the extent of their conversation.

"Wow," Sirius mumbled. "Now that's what I call an intimate conversation. Way to pick up the girls, Prongs."

"What am I supposed to say to her, Padfoot? It's not as though she wants to have anything to do with me, let alone talk to me."

Sirius looked at his friend and nodded in agreement. "Ya, I suppose..."

He was stumped. Sirius slumped back in his chair and thought pensively as to how he possibly could help his best mate. Out of the corner his eye he caught the eye of Kylie, who quickly looked away blushing, finding her potions ingredients utterly intriguing.

Sirius leaned back in his chair a little more smugly. Aww girls. He would never understand how his best friend could be so hung up on just one.

CRASH!

Most important lesson of potions for the day: Don't lean too far back in wobbly desk chairs, for they tip easily.

Sirius lay sprawled on his back on the floor.

"Oh shit, mate!" James said, laughing as he helped up Sirius. The rest of the class was laughing hysterically; for every person, especially the girls, knew Sirius looked good when he was lounging low in his chair. They boys however recognized that Sirius knew that he looked good too, and thus secretly hoped he would one day fall.

"And that is why we keep the four legs to our chairs on the floor, class," rang Professor Slughorn's voice. "Now if you will, please back to the potions you were brewing."

Sirius, however, was not able to focus as easily. He'd leaned back in these chairs hundreds of times. Why now had he fallen? He glanced over at Kylie, who was not laughing, and she motioned her head to a student in the back of the class. Sirius turned his head slowly and saw Snape sitting with a look of extreme satisfaction. Of course Sirius's first reaction was to form some sort of retaliation. However, as he sat, thinking of a plan of action, he looked again at Kylie and suddenly the perfect plan entered his mind. Although, this plan did not have anything to do with embarrassing Snape…

**A/N: Rockstar reviews appreciated. \m/ Or just normal reviews, too.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Fanfiction rocks. Reviews rule.**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 4_

Just as it was common knowledge that Sirius, Remus, and Peter were James's best friends, Kylie and Britta were Lily's best friends. And what better way to merge two groups of friends than through a little flirtation between two of the primary members? Sirius laughed inwardly. Brilliance, sheer brilliance. Not only was he going to force Lily to at least see more of James, he was also handing himself the perfect opportunity to flirt with Kylie, and possibly rekindle what they had started at the end of their sixth year. And if possible, she looked even better now than she did then. Not that looks were everything… ha.

As the bell signaled for the end of class, Sirius packed up his potions supplies at the exact same speed as Kylie. This left James time to scrape at the table with his quill and Remus to whip through his schedule planner while they waited for their best mate. Eventually Sirius slumped his bag over his shoulder. He walked parallel to Kylie, Britta and Lily, who were walking out talking animatedly, making it inevitable that they would meet at the door.

"After you, fine ladies," Sirius smiled, feeding Kylie a daring smile, which she returned with a grin.

Lily rolled her eyes, but laughed at his antics and followed Kylie and Britta out of the door.

"So, enjoyable class?" he said, catching up to Kylie's left side, leaving James and Remus to follow.

"I think most people thought so, with you falling out of your chair and all," Kylie smiled.

Sirius mocked looking abashed, then grinned evilly. "I'll get Snapey back, just wait and see."

Lily shook her head at him, though she was smiling. "You lot and Severus are just never going to give it up, are you?"

Sirius laughed, "I think there's more of a chance of you giving up trying to make us 'stop' than us actually stopping."

Lily nodded her head, "Can't say I disagree."

"So how would you ladies like to join Remus, James and me for a picnic on the lake? We were about to grab some lunch and head out there under that great willow tree, and we would simply love your company," Sirius requested smiling irrestably.

"Oh I dunno.." Lily started. She looked at Kylie who stared back at her with pleading eyes.

"I say we go," interjected Britta, outweighing Kylie's infatuation with Sirius to Lily's detestation of James.

"And so it's settled!" Sirius stated, before Lily could put in her thoughts on the matter.

The six gryffindors made their way to the Great Hall, met up with Peter, grabbed some food, and headed out to the great willow tree.

Lily, of course, was not excited about the prospect of being in the proximity of James during lunch, though she knew better than to disappoint Kylie who had been mad about Sirius since their fifth year. And even so, James really had not been that horrible recently. Perhaps he had woken up and was rethinking his plan to pull a new prank everyday.

Nonetheless, Lily struck up conversation with Remus so as to avoid any sort of contact with James. She and Remus had always gotten along very well, as she had been the first to discover his secret about being a werewolf. In all actuality, she not only was his first friend at Hogwarts, but his first friend in life. As a muggleborn witch, after discovering his secret in the latter part of their first year, she was the first person to ever know the truth and not judge him any differently. And when James, Sirius, and Peter acted slightly shiftily when they found out his secret in their second year, she immediately stood up for him and brought them to their senses. To much of Hogwarts, it had always been a surprise that Remus and Lily had never dated, but their friendship perhaps ran too deep for feelings beyond brotherly and sisterly love.

Lily noticed Remus was looking a little off-color, which only really could mean one thing.

"Full moon approaching?" she asked concerned.

Remus nodded, "In a weeks time, unfortunately."

"I'm sorry, is it still as miserable as it used to be?" she asked concerned.

Remus smiled thoughtfully. "No not nearly."

Lily looked at him puzzled. "What's changed?"

"Let's just say I know these three guys around me really are my best friends," he said.

Lily looked at him intrigued, though felt it impolite to ask any more questions concerning his transformations. After all, it had been over two years since he had talked with her much about it. Perhaps James, Sirius, and Peter had done something to truly help him in their fifth year. It had become a regular occurrence that he would come to her after the full moon, letting her in on small horrors of his transformation, and allowing her to help him mend his wounds. But now that she thought about it, since their fifth year, she had not even noticed him having many scrapes and scratches.

It was in this moment of contemplation that Lily caught a few words of the conversation in front of her.

"I study, honestly," James was laughing.

James and Britta were talking in front of her, and she apparently was accusing him of having lousy study habits.

Britta rolled her eyes, and shook her head, grinning. "I don't believe it. Not once have I ever come across you studying in the library or the common room. You're almost always late to class, and when you're not in class, you're eating, playing quidditch, or planning a new prank with Sirius. And still you were able to earn 12 O.W.L.s. It's just ridiculous."

Lily silently agreed with Britta's argument, but waited to hear James's response.

"Does a person have to use the library or common room to study? I do quite like to study in the comfort of my bed in my dormitory, but there are also hundreds of other rooms in Hogwarts. Why do I have to choose between just two?"

And so he had a point, Lily noted. Suddenly Lily stopped herself, causing Remus to give her a confused look.

"You alright, Lils?" he asked.

She nodded, and walked on. Since when did she care about what James had to say? She gave herself a little shake and struck up a conversation about charms with Remus, which carried them the rest of the way to the lake.

It was a very nice day in late September as the group of teenagers lounged lazily on the bank of the river.

"Oy Prongs, pass the crisps, will ya?" Sirius requested of his friends, who in turn, tossed him the bag.

"Thanks Prongsy," he added.

"No problem, Padfoot," James replied.

Britta sat up a little bit and looked around at the four boys. "So where exactly did you lot come up with those nicknames?"

No one answered immediately, so she pushed on. "I mean, I understand Moony and the whole werewolf thing, but what about the rest of you?"

Remus looked at her shocked, and looked at Lily.

"I didn't tell her!" she immediately protested.

"Oh come off it," Britta laughed. "I've been in the same classes with you for seven years and I live in the same tower. You disappear once a month and your friends call you Moony. Any Gryffindor in our year would have to be really thick to not realize that you're a werewolf by now."

Remus reasoned over her answer and nodded in agreement. "How long have you known?"

Britta shrugged. "Oh maybe two years. I never really thought about it until you all started using those nicknames. Kylie and I talked about it once and kind of deduced the same thing."

"Clever," Remus stated. "As for their nicknames, well they are just nicknames."

"Ya," James continued. "They represent our more _animal_-_like_ qualities."

Sirius and Peter sniggered at this comment, and Lily looked at the foursome perplexed.

"Animal-like qualities?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's right," James said. "Everyone has animal-like qualities-"

"Precisely," Sirius butted in. "I mean you Lily, you remind me perfectly of a doe."

"A doe," she repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, of course," Sirius continued, trying to conceal a smile and laugh. "You're so well-poised and proper, and you would make such a great companion to a stag."

Remus and Peter were finding it difficult to muffle their laughter, and James was turning red and shaking his head at Sirius. Lily eyed the four boys highly baffled, looked to her friends for answers, who shrugged their shoulders in confusion.

After about another half-hour, the seven Gryffindors finished their lunches and started packing up in order to head to their afternoon charms lesson. Sirius pulled Remus and Peter aside as the group was standing and whispered something in their ears. He then took Kylie's arm and led the way up to the castle doors. Peter and Remus immediately walked on either side of Britta, following Sirius and Kylie's lead, leaving James and Lily to stare after their friends dejectedly.

Lily looked at James and noticed he was fidgeting somewhat uncomfortably. It was cute… _almost_. She stared after Sirius and shook her head smiling.

"What's so amusing?" James asked her.

"You just have really good friends," she replied, still smiling.

James nodded, and without really knowing what else to say responded, "Yeah, I do."

Silently they made there way up to the castle, and James inwardly kept wondering what he could possibly say to change Lily's perception of him.

"So…" he started awkwardly, searching for something, anything to say to her.

Lily looked at him and waited for him to continue.

"Are- are you, um, ready for tonight?" he asked.

Lily looked at him puzzled and raised her eyebrow. "What's tonight?"

James looked at her. "Didn't you get Dumbledore's message this morning at breakfast?"

"I don't usually go to-," Lily started, but was interrupted by an owl delivering her a letter. She unwrapped the note and saw, coincidentally, that it was from Dumbledore.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_I am pleased to see that you and Mr. Potter have, for the most part, been upholding your duties as Head Boy and Girl responsibly. Another one of your duties, however, must begin this Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock. You and our Head Boy must meet weekly on Wednesday evenings for a meeting to discuss the affairs among the Hogwarts student body and any upcoming events. During the last week of the month, the prefects will also attend this meeting so as to understand all current matters. Any questions or problems, feel free to consult me. _

_Albus Dumbledore_

Lily stared down at the note flabbergasted. Weekly meetings with James? Who was Dumbledore kidding? Lily felt knots rising in her stomach. On top of seeing James in almost every class she was taking, she was now going to see him on Wednesday nights as well? She looked over at James, who smiled innocently, and all Lily could feel was absolute frustration. Good friend or not, right now she hated Sirius for leaving her to walk with James to class.

"Lily, will you-" James started.

"Potter, don't even consider asking me out right now," Lily snapped.

James shook his head at her. "Don't flatter yourself, Evans. I was only going to ask you to wait a second while I picked up the quill that fell out of your bookbag."

He bent down and picked something off the ground and handed it to her. Lily felt herself go red. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Better watch out or people might start thinking that you have as big of a head as I'm accused of having," James smiled.

Lily nodded, smiling bashfully, and replied, "Point well taken."

A few minutes later Lily and James walked in to charms to only two seats left, coincidentally, next to each other. To Sirius's great pleasure he noticed that neither individual sat down looking miserable. In fact, they appeared to be talking at least somewhat civilly! Sirius smiled contently. Operation-Force-Lily-And-James-To-Talk-While-Flirting-With-Kylie was a success.

**A/N: Apologies: I'm off to school Saturday so it will take a small bit of time until I can post the next chapter, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter enough to tide you over. Oh, and obviously, review! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wowa, new chapter! Embrace and enjoy! Oh, and BIG THANKS for the reviews!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 5_

Lily yawned lazily as she folder her socks. Laundry was one of the hidden tasks at Hogwarts that no one remembered to mention when describing the magnificent school. Rightfully so, most house-elves were happy to help, but something about handing over one's knickers to an unknown being, human or elf, just never appealed to Lily. It was now late afternoon on Wednesday, and in a few hours time, she would attend her first scheduled meeting with the Headboy. She knotted her socks a little too harshly as she thought of the upcoming year to be spent with James every Wednesday night. And she too reasoned with herself, that maybe, just maybe, he was actually slightly more decent this year. At least, he appeared so during lunch earlier in the day.

After she completed her folding, she hoisted her laundry basket up onto her hip and began to head back to Gryffindor tower. Just as she was reaching the portrait hole of the Fat Lady, James and the rest of the quidditch team exited on their way to practice. He nodded his head at her as he passed, feeding her a tentative half smile, that Lily somewhat returned. Well, apparently they were now acknowledging each other, which had been a rare occurrence since their eventful train ride to Hogwarts. Lily laughed to herself as she entered the portrait hole and forced herself to embrace the awkwardness that was James Potter.

For the next two hours, she worked on a somewhat enjoyable Potions essay from Professor Slughorn, losing track of time and forgetting to eat dinner. Thus, at a quarter to eight, she set out for the charms classroom where she and James had agreed to meet. She arrived with five minutes to spare and silently took a seat. She pulled out her Potions essay, not expecting James to be punctual. Every five minutes she checked her watch, and finally, at 23 past the hour, James stumbled into the room, panting.

"Sorry, Evans," he gasped. "Quidditch trials ran a little late. Two chaser positions open, and mind you, there's hardly anyone good out there this year."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied. "I'd offer my help, but my feet rather enjoy staying firmly on the ground."

James looked at her. "You're not mad that I'm late?"

Lily motioned towards her essay. "Wouldn't expect anything less from you."

James smiled sheepishly. "It won't happen again."

Lily raised her eyebrows, not believing him, but allowed herself to smile to show she was not mad.

James sat down next to her. "Well then, shall we get down to business?"

Lily nodded, at the same time taking in James's appearance. His hair was wind-blown and his face was smeared with flecks of mud and sweat. He was dressed in his quidditch attire that complemented his fitted physique. He looked good. Really good. Lily twirled one of her red curls absentmindedly on her finger.

James seemed too antsy to stay seated. His legs were bobbing up and down almost uncontrollably. Truth be told, he was extremely nervous to be seated beside Lily in a classroom filled with just the two of them. He in fact had finished trials in plenty of time to make it to the classroom close to on time, but had been too fretful to open the door for nearly 15 minutes.

"So, our plans for this year," he began.

"Yes, those," Lily agreed. "You know, I don't really know what Dumbledore wants us to meet and talk about. It's only the third week. We can't have much duty other than exemplary behavior yet."

James muffled a laugh.

"Okay, well my duty is exemplary behavior. Dumbledore's idea of your duty?"

James looked at her, "You got me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Just try to limit yourself this year. Please, James."

James shifted slightly uncomfortably. Here it was again: his battle of whether to change so as to be approved by Lily, or to keep to his old ways with his best friends. _Show her the real you_, he reminded himself. Suddenly, James stood up.

"Where are you going?' Lily asked.

"Mind if we take this meeting on a walk? I'm starving," he replied.

"But dinner's already past," Lily reminded him.

James looked at her abashed. "You mean to tell me you only eat at the designated dining periods?"

Lily nodded, staring at him puzzled.

"What the? You haven't lived!" he over-dramaticized, grabbing her by the hand and leading her from the room. "Honestly, Evans, you're in your seventh year at Hogwarts..."

Lily allowed herself to be led from the charms corridor to a painting of a fruit bowl just below the great hall. James tickled a rather luscious looking pear and steered Lily into the kitchens for her first time. Lily's jaw dropped in awe.

Hundreds of house elves were bustling around the room the size of the great hall, some holding pots and pans, others drying dishes, and even more carrying more plates of food than Lily had ever seen.

"What can we do for James Potter and his guest?" one house-elf squeaked, bowing its head low and skimming its nose on the floor.

"Hey Twintzy, may I introduce you to the Head girl Lily Evans?" James responded politely.

Lily shook the small elf's hand in greeting and said happily, "It's very nice to meet you. These kitchens are amazing."

The house-elf beamed.

"Twintzy, Lily and I here accidentally missed dinner. You wouldn't happen to have any extra food for us to eat tonight, would you?"

At this about eight house-elves approached the duo with trays laden with apples, crackers, cheeses, potatoes, crisps, and one even offering James what appeared to be an entire steak-and-kidney pie. Lily graciously took an apple and some cheese and crackers, while James grabbed the entire pie, plus 6 éclairs.

James and Lily thanked the house-elves continuously as they prepared to leave. Just as she turned to exit the door, Lily noticed ten or so lunch bags labeled with Sirius's name. She pointed this out to James who rolled his eyes.

"Surely you've seen how much that boy eats. He makes a visit to the kitchen every two hours, at least. In fact, I'm surprised he's not here now."

Lily laughed, and James stomach did a flip with glee.

The two gryffindors carried their food back to the charms classroom, where they ate their dinners and discussed prospects for the upcoming year. The only large responsibility for the Head boy and Head girl was to take charge of the 7th years' send-off dance at the end of the year. But as this was months away, casual talk about homework and classes seemed more in order.

At nearly eleven o'clock, Lily looked down at her watch in shock. "Well, it looks just about like our time is up. We've been in here nearly an hour too long."

James could not resist smiling. Talking with Lily had been so easy. He had not felt more relaxed and confident around her ever in his life.

"We'd better be careful getting to the common room as we're inching into after curfew hours," Lily continued.

James nodded, but continued smiling. "That shouldn't be a problem."

"No offense, James, but I don't really want to be caught roaming the halls of Hogwarts with you after hours. It just doesn't look very good," Lily said.

James laughed. "Understandable, but you should know, I never get caught en route. It's always in the act, or I'm just the main suspect in the aftermath."

"Never en route? And how do you manage that?" Lily asked.

James pulled the Marauder's Map out of his quidditch bag. Secretly he had been waiting for an opportunity to show Lily this prized possession, hoping to impress her with what consumed him his third through fifth years. Lily stared at the grubby piece of parchment that she had been introduced to at the end of year past with her eyebrows raised skeptically.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" James exclaimed, waving his wand at the map.

Spider-like the map of Hogwarts unfolded before Lily, with little dots labeling every member in the castle. Lily gasped and James again found himself unable to restrain a smile.

"Where did you get this?" she asked in awe.

James shrugged casually, "Made it."

"M-made it?" she stuttered. "What do you mean you made it? How did you-? When did you-?"

"Took me a few months, but finished it at the end of 5th year. Of course I had the help of Sirius, Peter, and Remus, too," he replied.

"But this is seriously advanced magic! Even as a seventh year, I can't imagine creating something like this. And how do you know all of these rooms and passages?" she asked.

James raised his eyebrows at her. "Come on, Lil's. That's at least believable with the amount I 'roam the halls of Hogwarts after hours.'"

Lily nodded, her mouth still open as she stared at the tiny dots moving about the castle. "They've sure got you wrong," she muttered.

"What do you mean? Who's got me wrong?' James asked.

Lily crinkled her brow. "Whoever said men have a horrible sense of direction. You have to have the best sense of direction in the world to create something like this. I'm impressed, James. Really, I am."

James beamed. "Well, we best be on our way. It looks like Filch is down in the dungeons and Mrs. Norris is over near the Great Hall."

Lily quickly packed up her potions essay and exited the room with James. Quietly they embarked on their walk back to Gryffindor tower with James checking the Marauder's Map every minute or so to make sure their path was still clear. Lily kept throwing glances at James, completely shocked at what she had learned about him tonight.

"Quick, Lily. It's Peeves. In here," he muttered quickly, pulling her by the hand in to an open door to the left of them. It was a broom cupboard… a very small broom cupboard.

James and Lily stood in the cupboard with bated breath. Although he was making very little noise breathing, James was sure his heart was pounding loud enough to attract Peeve's attention outside. He felt like a fourth year again with how nervous he was to be this close to Lily. She had her hand on his upper arm, grabbing him nervously. He knew if he could turn on a light, he would probably be mere inches away from her.

"Do you think he's gone?" Lily whispered.

James muttered, "Lumos," to his wand and confirmed his previous thought that Lily was quite close to him. Lily looked up at him with her emerald eyes sparkling in his wand light, and James was forced to restrain himself from kissing her. He tore his gaze away from her and stared down at the map. Peeves was still outside and James strained to hide a smile.

"He's still out there," he muttered, showing Lily the map. Sure enough, Peeves was bopping around doing who-knows-what outside their door.

"You better turn out that light, just in case," Lily said quietly.

James obliged, not restraining his smile because he knew she could not see him. A few minutes passed and Lily turned around to stand next to James, and then slid down the wall so as to sit down. James followed suit and cramped his legs up into his chest like she had done in order to fit properly.

"Muffliato," Lily muttered at the door. "Ah, much better," she said aloud. "I don't know why I didn't think to do that sooner."

"Shh…" James whispered at her, not knowing of the spell.

"Relax, James," she said normally again. "It's a spell I learned from… a friend. It puts a bubble around the people having a conversation so others can't hear."

"Wow, that's pretty handy. I'll have to let Sirius in on that one," he agreed. "Who was the friend you learned it from?"

Lily shrugged. "Just another classmate."

"And… you completely dodged my question," James stated.

"Oh, right. Well, I learned it from Severus," she said quietly.

James raised his eyebrows. "From Snapey? You mean he has a brain to create spells that aren't entirely dark-magic-related?"

Lily laughed a little, then stared at him perplexed. "Exactly why do you hate him so much?"

James shrugged. "I mean it started on the train, really. He was slimy and so interested in the slytherin and dark arts. It just sort of developed into a rivalry of sorts. It's really immature," he added as an afterthought.

Lily nodded. "So, coast clear yet?"

James lit his wand again and looked down at the map. Peeves was gone. He felt his stomach drop a little with disappointment, but he stood up and helped Lily to her feet. James felt his breath catch in his chest as her body brushed his, but no sooner she had opened the door and exited into the hallway. James followed suit and soon they made it safely back to Gryffindor tower.

"Well goodnight, James," Lily said, yawning widely and turning to go up to bed.

"Hey Lily," James started, and she turned to look at him from the third step. "Er, thanks for tonight. It wasn't half bad."

Lily smiled at him. "Yeah, it wasn't. I may possibly even look forward to next week."

James stumbled into his dormitory, beaming.

**A/N: The review button is close by. I must recommend you click it and write something.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks. Gracias. Merci. Love you for the reviews!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 6_

Lily went to bed on that Wednesday night entirely curious of her emotions. She had indeed enjoyed her time spent with James, and she realized that the weird, twisted feeling in her stomach was due to the fact that she had actually missed James when he had distanced himself from her at the start of term. She stared up at the red hangings of her four poster bed, her brow furrowed. Was she actually discovering that deep down, somewhere, she maybe somewhat liked James as a person? But she had always been so sure that every ounce of her detested him.

As she thought about it more, she realized, for the past few years really, she had actually enjoyed seeing James throughout the school day. Even though, in general, it was only to roll her eyes at his antics (though she hadn't seen that snitch yet this year) or prove she could beat him in a charms or potions assignment, some part of her actually enjoyed his presence. She had missed him. And she was glad he was back in her life. Wow. The thought hung in her head as a very strange but important revelation, and she could barely think of anything else until she fell asleep.

******

The seventh year for Lily and the marauders was definitely passing far too quickly for any of their likings. It was already late-October when an early frost swept the grounds leaving James and Sirius nearly frozen after quidditch practice.

"Full moon, tonight," James shivered. "It's Wednesday, so I have to meet with Lily at 8, but maybe we can join Remus around ten?"

"Ten works," Sirius chattered back. "Bloody hell, it's going to be a cold one, tonight. I can hardly wait to get that black shaggy coat on."

"I'm definitely jealous, mate. I'll feel that chill through to my skin tonight."

"We'll just have to be a little extra adventurous to get your adrenalin rushing," Sirius said.

"Don't let Moony hear you say that, but yes, I have to agree," James replied.

The boys had finally reached the entrance hall, and as it wasn't quite seven, they had just enough time to run upstairs and change, and make their way to the great hall for dinner. Both boys were famished from practice, and nearly choked as they devoured hearty chicken pot pies and plenty of mashed potatoes. Sirius, of course, nearly doubled James with his food intake, though James also ingested a highly caloric meal.

"Erm, sorry James, but are you ready?" Lily asked from behind James, as he was scraping out the very bottom of his pudding glass. "It's five to 8, and Dumbledore has set an agenda for us tonight."

"Sure, Lily," James replied, grabbing two cookies as he got up from the table to take with him. "See you later, Padfoot."

"See you, Prongs," Sirius said through a mouthful of bread pudding.

James followed about a half step behind Lily as she led them from the entrance hall towards the Charms corridor. Lily was having an internal argument with herself as to how she should act around James, in light of her newly discovered feelings. Should she be nice, since she had discovered that some part of her actually liked him? But would he notice her acting differently, and call her out on it? Should she instead treat him like she used to, which mainly consisted of being sarcastic or indifferent?

They had had two meetings since Lily had discovered that she no longer hated James. And since then, Lily had been struggling to decide how to treat James. She had always treated him as if she hated him, but now that she didn't hate him, she couldn't still treat him like she hated him. But she didn't want him to realize she didn't hate him any longer, so she didn't want to treat him differently, either. Overall, it was simply far too confusing to be worth so much thought, yet Lily still found this roundabout debate invading her brain on a daily basis.

"Hey Lily, where are we going?" James asked, interrupting Lily's train of thought.

Lily looked around. She had passed all the way through the Charms corridor, past the classroom they usually met in, and was heading basically in the direction of the library.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, as she turned around to backtrack.

"Something on your mind?" James asked.

"No," she lied, feeling herself blush.

James looked at her peculiarly, but shrugged. He was too full to care about much of anything at the moment, although he was still eating his second cookie, and enjoying it. When they reached their usual classroom, James opened the door for her and followed her inside.

They sat down opposite each other. They looked at each other. Lily gave him a quizzical stare. Then shook her head, before bending down into her bookbag to pull out a letter Dumbledore had given her.

"Lils, before we start, what _is_ up? You are acting super awkward. And you've been different, really, for the past few weeks."

Lily shook her head again. James looked at her, utterly confused.

"I guess I do have a lot on my mind," Lily said, after a moment.

James raised his eyebrows at her, asking for an explanation with his eyes.

"Honestly, it's nothing. I'll pull myself together," she offered.

"You, er, need to talk about anything?" James asked.

"Now you're being the awkward one," Lily laughed.

James shot her his fantastic half-smile, and she blushed again.

Suddenly, Lily froze in her chair. Was she just flirting? Was she actually, possibly, flirting with _James Potter_? The same James Potter who used to practically make her skin crawl, he annoyed her so much?

"Now what, Lily? You look like you've seen a ghost," James asked.

"Excuse me for a second, James," Lily muttered, and she got up and stepped out into the corridor.

She walked into the girls' bathroom, where she stood and stared at the mirror for a moment. And she made a decision. She would treat James like she really felt about him; like she no longer hated him. She wouldn't fake anything. A thought suddenly crossed her mind. Could she possibly actually like him? As in have legitimate feelings for him?

"Absolutely not," she said aloud. And she reminded herself of all the things she couldn't stand about James.

When Lily re-entered the classroom, James was lounging in his chair, similar to Sirius's usual style.

"Don't lean back too far, now, or you'll end up on the floor," she said, as she took her seat again across from him.

James laughed, and brought all four legs on to the ground. "You know, I am surprised Sirius hasn't gotten Snape back yet for that one."

"In due time, I'm sure," Lily smiled. "So, are we ready to get down to business? Dumbledore gave me this list today. It basically looks like he has some things he wants us to do before the Halloween feast, to make sure everything is set up properly." She handed the list to James.

"Simple enough," he said, reading it over. "We'll send an owl off to the Scary Skeletons to confirm they have a troop of tap dancers coming out, and another one to this Betty Vampiracal to make sure there are 75 of her bats reserved for the day. Do you want to draft those letters, or should I?"

"I don't mind doing it," Lily replied. "Just remind me to mail them out tomorrow after transfiguration. We'll be half way to the owlery from there anyway."

"And we need to check on Hagrid's pumpkins, and see if they need any more 'help.' Well, we can go do that tonight if you like."

Lily glanced down at her watch. "It's almost curfew for the grounds. Maybe we should hold off until tomorrow."

James smiled slyly. "Or you could have your first real experience with the Marauder's Map."

Lily looked at him skeptically.

"Seriously, Lils. I promise we won't get caught. I'll bring something else along that will ensure it, too."

Lily was curious as to what other rule-breaking tools James could have. And her curiosity won over her willingness to abide by school rules. "Okay, but I'll need to grab my cloak."

"Ah yes, and me as well," James grinned.

About twenty minutes later, James and Lily met again at the portrait hole, James hiding the invisibility cloak in his pocket, and Lily carrying her traveling cloak on her arm.

James was almost beside himself with excitement to show Lily his cloak. He had been looking for an opportunity to show her his precious family heirloom, and further expose his true self. Although he assumed she probably would initially identify it as a tool he used to break school rules, it really represented so much more than that, and he hoped he could explain that to her. It had created so many opportunities for discovery, and yet, such privacy. Honestly, without the cloak, he wouldn't have accomplished hardly any of what he considered his recognizable feats; the Marauder's Map and the Animagus transfiguration. Though of course, Lily yet still did not know that he could turn into a stag.

The pair walked quickly through the castle, heading to the front door. As they were head boy and girl, they could actually remain in the hallways until eleven. It was just the school grounds that closed at nine. Still, when it was late, and no other students were around, the halls still felt forbidden. Well, to Lily, at least.

When they reached the front doors, Lily went to pull them open.

"Hold it," James said. And he pulled out the invisibility cloak.

"What is – Oh my!" Lily gasped, as James threw the cloak over himself.

"Care to join me?" he asked, inviting her to drape the cloak over herself as well.

James couldn't have hoped for a better reaction from her. Lily was so eager to feel the cloak's fabric that she immediately stepped right next to him, completely oblivious to how close they now were. James, of course, noticed, and he couldn't stop smiling.

"Honestly, James. This is incredible! Where on earth did you get it?" Lily asked, now feeling the fabric with her fingers.

"From my dad," James replied. "You all covered?"

Lily nodded.

"Great, Let's go."

"Now take small steps," James whispered, " or the cloak with ruffle too much around our feet and they could be exposed."

"Of course," Lily replied breathlessly.

They made their way slowly down the slopes towards Hagrid's, James still painfully aware of how close him and Lily were. He could actually smell her hair, and he was finding it more intoxicating that a dozen firewhiskies. The grounds were extremely quiet and chilly, and James was thankful for the rush of adrenalin that being so close to Lily was giving him.

"I definitely get it, James," Lily said after a few minutes.

"Get what, exactly?" James replied.

"Why you broke so many school rules," she said. "I mean, the opportunities for exploration are absolutely endless with this thing." She stroked the fabric again. "Not to mention the privacy something like this must give you,"

James smiled very broadly, and was secretly glad she couldn't see him. Lily was beginning to understand him.

"Though," she continued, "I'm not nearly as impressed by your pranking anymore."

"You were impressed by it?" James laughed.

"Now you know that's not how I mean it," Lily snapped back, though he could tell she smiling.

"Nevertheless, Lils. I'm flattered," James replied.

They had arrived at Hagrid's, though his hut was very dark.

"Do you think he's asleep?" Lily asked.

"Or maybe in the forest?" James offered.

"Suppose we shouldn't bother him. I guess we can just sneak around back and take a look at the pumpkins ourselves," Lily suggested.

So the duo quietly made their way around Hagrid's house, and immediately spotted the enormous orange blobs that could easily house a hippogriff each.

"Well, I don't think we need to encourage Hagrid to do anything more to these gourds. If they grow any more before Halloween, they are liable to be too big to fit through the front doors," James muttered.

Lily nodded her head in agreement. "Well I suppose we should head back to the castle then?" she chattered. The cold was settling more fiercely into the grounds.

"I could use a good warm-up by the fire," James agreed.

And so they retreated back up the slopes towards the castle front door. They still moved slowly, and James could practically feel Lily shivering next to him. He debated in his head for about fifteen seconds whether he should put his arm around her and try to warm her. With a leap of faith, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She resisted for a moment, but gave into the warmth of his body next to hers. His head was nearly screaming with delight and satisfaction, and he felt his stomach doing continual flips with each step they now took.

They were nearly halfway back to the castle when Lily muttered something.

"Sorry, what did you say?" James asked.

"Is that Sirius?" she repeated. "Walking towards us from the Whomping Willow."

James turned to where she was looking, and sure enough, saw Sirius walking towards the castle front doors, with a definite strut in his step.

James threw the cloak off of him and Lily, and called over to his mate.

"Oy Sirius, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh Jamsey! And Lily!" he smiled, raising his eyebrows at the pair of them. "I think the better question is what are you _two _doing out here." He added an obnoxious wink.

Lily rolled her eyes, but James simply disregarded it.

"No seriously, what are you doing?" James repeated.

Sirius smiled even broader. "Just getting even."

"Sirius, what did you do?" James asked. Lily was surprised by the stern tone in his voice.

Sirius continued to smiling. "If you must know, dear Prongs, our good friend Snivell – I mean Severus – was lurking around the willow tonight. He was trying to follow our lunar friend, you see. So I just, ah, tipped him off that all he had to do was prod the knot on that fabulous tree and follow a little tunnel to see just how special our lunar friend can be! Pretty good, eh, James?" he laughed.

James looked like he was frozen. "How long ago?" he asked.

"Oh like five minutes. I expect we'll see the results soon," Sirius replied.

But James was sprinting across the grass, leaving both Lily and Sirius standing in their places. He was heading directly for the Whomping Willow, and Lily saw it creaking as it geared up for his arrival into its territory. She started to chase after him. What on earth was he doing going so close to that tree! And what exactly was it that Sirius had done to Snape? Lunar friend? Lily glanced up and the sky and saw the full moon. With a sinking in her stomach, she realized that that could only mean one awful thing.

"James!" she called, as the tree lurched and flailed its branches warningly. He was now just in the trees outer reaches.

But he ignored her. James tore through the branches now whipping at him wildly, and ducked out of the way of a giant branch aimed directly at his head. Somehow, incredibly, he made it to the trunk of the tree, and dove out of site. Lily stopped just outside of the Willow's reach, stunned to find he had disappeared down some sort of hole she had never known existed.

James tore down the passageway towards the Shrieking Shack. How on earth could Sirius have been so stupid?! He sprinted with all of his might down the dark corridor, ignoring the ache of a stitch building in his side. Never, ever, had he been so terrified of what he might find ahead of him if Remus found Snape before he did.

"Snape!" James hollered, and the sounds echoed down the tunnel.

**A/N: Ohhhh a cliffie! Hate those! But, oh look, next chapter's posted… Aren't I nice? You can be nice too and post a review… hint hint. Thanks!!! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: A million thanks for the reviews and support! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I sure had fun writing it.**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 7_

Lily frantically tried to run towards the tree's trunk, but could not get within fifteen feet without getting whipped by the tree's flailing branches.

"Sirius!" Lily hollered, turning around to search for James's seemingly guilty best friend.

Sirius was sitting about twenty feet behind her, face pale in the moonlight. Lily backed towards him. The uneasy look on his face increased her own feelings of foreboding.

"What can we do?" Lily asked, sitting down next to Sirius. Sirius stared down at his hands and shook his head.

"Sirius, look at me," Lily said. And slowly, Sirius's gaze slowly met her eyes.

"What can we do?" Lily asked again.

Sirius blinked. "I think I went too far this time," he muttered softly.

Lily felt her stomach drop. Sirius acting seriously, meant indeed, the situation was serious.

"You're bleeding," Sirius said, pointing to her cheek.

Lily reached up and touched the side of her face, and felt a sting as her fingers touched the wet cut.

***************

James sprinted as hard as he could, unfeeling of anything but pure adrenaline. Three more turns and he would be at the threshold of the Shrieking Shack. His wand was slippery in his sweaty hand and his shirt was sticking to his back. At the slightest sign of animal movement, he was ready to turn himself into a stag. But if it was possible, he had to try to get Snape out without him seeing him in his animal form. Or his secret would be lost forever…

One turn away and he heard footsteps in front of him. "Snape!" James hollered. "Stop, please stop!"

James turned the final corner and Snape was facing toward him, his eyebrows raised. "What are _you_ doing here, Potter?" Snape asked slimily.

But a howling behind Snape caused him to lose interest in James's response and turn towards the Shrieking Shack. Snarling, drooling, and vividly angry, Remus, in-werewolf-form, began slowly stalking towards Snape and James: his human prey.

"Petrificus Totalus!" James hollered, hitting Snape in the back with the curse. Snape fell face forward, landing hard on the rugged passageway floor. James then turned his wand on himself, and turned into his stag form. He hoped that Snape, being petrified, would not be able to see his hooves from his face-down position as James charged at Remus. But what choice did he have? Between life and death, he would choose life no matter the consequence.

Remus growled threateningly at James, as he always did, when he was overtaken by his animal emotions. And with the smell of human flesh so close by, James knew that Remus's human senses had to be virtually nonexistent.

Knowing what he had to do, James leaped over Snape, charging his good friend, his head bowed. He heard Remus running towards him, too, and with a huge crash, the two collided. James felt pain in his shoulder as Remus's claw scratched his skin, and although he couldn't feel it, he could hear Remus's teeth gnawing at his antlers. James pushed with all of his might, backing his friend towards the entrance to the Shrieking Shack.

Still snarling, Remus pushed back, trying to get to Snape. He lashed at James again with his paws, re-clawing where he had lacerated James skin in their initial clashing. James gasped in pain, as he felt blood trickling down his shoulder. In that moment, Remus began backing him up towards Snape.

A spark of determination flared up in James. He had to save his friends. He could not let Remus kill or simply bite Snape. Remus would be beyond devastated with either of those outcomes. Remus had been against his best friends becoming Animagi from the beginning. He hadn't wanted to take risks with his condition, but he had let his friends talk him into it.

And now, this was how Sirius repaid him. But James knew, too, he had to save Sirius. Sirius was sometimes a daft prat, but James knew he didn't possibly think this decision through. Sirius would get blamed if Snape was bitten, and that would mean expulsion at the very least…

And James had to save Snape. Not that Snape was his friend, but Snape mattered to Lily, and Lily mattered to him more anything, really. He reflected happily on their last hour. And with the thought of Lily in his head, James found the determination to push harder than he had before. He bowed his head, and dug his heels into the floor as he pushed, pushed, and pushed.

Only when they reached the threshold of the Shrieking Shack did James realize that he was actually moving Remus back. Into the house, James pushed him. Back, back, and back. There were at the stairs now. James had to raise his antlers to make sure Remus didn't jump over him as James pushed him up the stairs. He felt Remus's putrid werewolf breathe heavy on his nose. And his shoulder was screaming in pain.

When they reached the top landing, James heard a whimper, and felt Remus retreating on his own accord. James chanced a look in his friend's eye, and saw the raging animalistic instinct now absent. Remus was there inside, and he knew James was trying to push him upstairs for a reason. Remus turned from James with his tail between his legs and trotted into the back bedroom.

James followed his friend and saw him cowering under the bed. He was as good as human right now. Slowly, James retreated down the stairs, and then out into the passageway. Only until he was sure that Remus was not following him, did he turn back into human form and mutter, "Colloportus," locking the Shack's door.

It was then, in human form, that he realized how seriously Remus had cut his shoulder in his desperation to reach Snape.

"Finite Incantatem," James said, pointing his wand at Snape. Immediately, Snape was unfrozen, and as he stood up, James saw the look of immense fury etched on his face.

"Potter," Snape spat. "You could have killed me!"

"Shut up, Snape, and let's get out of here," James said.

"Don't you tell me to shut -," Snape started.

But James interrupted him. "Petrificus Totalus," James yelled.

Snape froze instantly, and fell face forward again. James rolled his eyes. A frozen, silent Snape was so much nicer.

"You asked for it," James said, as he stepped towards him.

"Locomotor Mortis," James then muttered, swishing his wand at Snape.

Snape suddenly hovered above the ground, and James steered Snape down the passageway toward its exit, staggering slightly as he gripped his shoulder. To James is seemed to take ages to get to the end of the passageway, but finally he could see moonlight seeping in raggedly through the Whomping Willow's branches.

"Finite Incantatem," James then muttered regretfully, and Snape fell from his hovering position to the floor.

"Woops," James said. He hadn't meant to drop Snape so hard on to the floor, but both the body moving charm and the body-bind curse were now lifted.

As James expected, Snape stood up, his face even more livid under an extremely bloody nose. Snape eyes glanced over James's injuries, but he apparently chose to ignore them.

"Two facedown body-binds, Potter?" Snape spat. "You left me completely blind and defenseless."

"You know, you could just thank me for saving your life," James responded. But he was secretly relieved Snape wasn't questioning the sound of hooves he must have heard.

Snape scoffed. "You and I both know you were just saving your own skin. Don't tell me you weren't in on this prank because I won't believe it."

James shrugged. He wasn't going to waste his energy arguing with Snape. In fact, he was getting rather dizzy.

When Snape realized James wouldn't respond, he turned and fled out of the passageway, hitting the knot of the tree as he exited. The branches flailing limbs froze, and he stalked heavily away.

"Severus!" James heard Lily call, as he hoisted himself awkwardly out of the passageway.

"Oh my goodness, Severus, are you okay?" Lily asked him.

"I'm fine," Snape muttered.

"Your nose…" Lily said.

Snape felt up towards his face, and felt the blood on his fingers. His already furious expression turned into one of utter rage.

"I am going to kill you, Potter," Snape stuttered, as he whipped out his wand and charged back towards the tree.

"Expelliarmus!" Lily cried, pointing her own wand at Snape's back. His wand flew out of his hand and landed some fifteen feet away. Sirius, who was nearest to it, stooped and picked it up.

Snape turned around and glared at Lily. "You idiotic mudblood," he snarled. "Do you understand what these fools tried to do to me?"

Lily glared back at him. "James didn't – James!"

It was then that Lily saw James emerging from the Whomping Willow's passageway. She ignored Snape's cries of anger and sprinted to where James was stumbling.

"James, oh my God, James! You're hurt!" Lily cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Lily," James mumbled. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"S-sorry," Lily replied. "What on earth for?"

"For ruining our walk," he mumbled again.

"Come on, Lily, we have to move him," Sirius said. "The tree will start moving any second now." Lily hadn't realized he had run over to James with her too.

Together, the two of them heaved James out of the Whomping Willow's reaches, just as it began to thrash its branches threateningly.

"It was a nice walk," James stuttered.

Lily couldn't help but giggle. "It was, James. It was."

It was then that she pulled her arms from his shoulders and her own arm came away covered in blood, that she realized how seriously James was injured.

She gasped. "Sirius," she said, showing him her arm.

Sirius went extremely pail. "Come on, Lils. We have to get him to the hospital wing."

Lily had completely forgotten that Snape was nearby, but he was reminded by heavy footsteps and livid voice.

"Give me back my wand, Black," Snape demanded.

Sirius growled in response.

"Give it back, Black," he said again.

Sirius ignored him, and ducked under James's good arm and slowly started to guide his friend toward the castle.

"Black!" Snape screeched.

"We have to get James to the hospital wing, Severus. Help us and we'll give it back to you there," Lily interrupted.

"Absolutely not," Snape insisted. "Give me my wand _now_!"

"Severus, please. At the hospital wing. I swear we'll give it back. I'll make sure of it," Lily pleaded.

Snape narrowed his eyes, meeting hers. Lily felt a stab in her heart as she saw the hurt and anger in her childhood friend's eyes. They had grown so far apart.

"Please," she said again. Her hand was shaking as she gripped her wand.

"Fine," he said. And he turned on his heel and left Sirius and Lily to guide James toward the castle door.

"Lily, a little help please!" Sirius yelped. It looked like James had passed out.

"Sirius! Is he okay?!" Lily gasped, running over, shaking James.

"Stop it, Lils," James mumbled, his eyes still closed.

The trio trudged slowly up the lawn, and Lily heaved open the door for the two boys to walk through.

"Sirius, if I can't-," James breathed.

"-play quidditch-," James continued.

"-I'm going to kill you," he finished.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. "Though an explanation will be. As will you returning Mr. Snape's wand, Mr. Black."

Snape poked his head out from behind Professor McGonagall.

"We just happened to meet in the hall," he smiled at Lily.

Lily ignored him. "Professor, we have to get James to the hospital –," she started.

And after showing her James's shoulder, Professor McGonagall didn't need telling twice.

She flicked her wand and a stretcher appeared that took James up to the hospital wing. She then glanced between the three students, noticing Snape's bloody nose and Lily's bloody cheek, and summoned them all to follow her. She flicked her wand again and sent a patronus from it. Lily had one guess as to whom it was going.

Surely enough, as the three students and Professor McGonagall reached the infirmary, Professor Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"Before I can let any of you in to see Madam Leanders, I must know," he said. "What happened to Mr. Potter?"

"Potter just got blasted by his own prank, Profes-" Snape started, but Sirius cut him off.

"No he didn't, dolt, James had no idea," Sirius retaliated.

Professor Dumbledore put up his hand. "Mr. Snape, please make your way inside. That nose could do with a cleaning."

He turned back to Lily and Sirius after he was sure Snape had closed the door behind him.

"What exactly happened, Mr. Black?" Dumbledore asked. His blue eyes were strictly inquisitive and not twinkling.

Sirius looked down at his feet. "I told Snape how to pass the Whomping Willow. That all he had to do was prod the knot, and he'd find out why Remus left every month. I ran into James just after, and as soon as I told him, he ran after him."

A severely alarmed look crossed the Professor's face. He wrenched open the hospital wing door and rapidly crossed to James's bed. "Does he have any bite marks? Can you see any at all?" Dumbledore asked, as he himself, looked up and down James's bloody arm.

"Bite marks?" Madam Leanders asked. "Well, I suppose there could be. These gashes are far too deep on his shoulder to be bites though. Looks more like claws of some kind to me."

"Alert me immediately if you come across any," Dumbledore said, and Madam Leanders nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore returned to where Lily and Sirius were standing. "Lily, I see your bleeding. Why don't you wait here and get cleaned up after Professor Leanders is done with James and Snape. Sirius, are you at all hurt?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Then you need to follow me," Dumbledore said. "Minerva, I will handle this from here." And with that, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Sirius left the room. If Sirius had been a dog, without question, his tail would have been tucked between his legs.

**A/N: And that's it for now! I wanted to get a post out in 2009… so this is where it has to stop. I have more to write though, so if you like it so far, I will definitely continue. Just let me know! Not a ton of character development in this chapter, but the next section should help to progress our stars' relationship. Happy New Year everyone! PS: Reviews are the best… **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here goes! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. AND THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 8_

Lily waited anxiously as Madam Leanders dressed James's injuries with a sort of dragon blood paste that immediately stopped the bleeding. James was completely sedated with help from a mild sleeping potion, but that didn't hide the look of immense pain etched on his face.

The thought that James could now be a werewolf had not crossed Lily's mind like it had Professor Dumbledore's so instantly. She knew Remus was a werewolf, but she had never actually thought of him as a werewolf, in werewolf form. And she never dreamed that he could mistakenly attack his best friend. But obviously, as here was James, lying stationary in the hospital wing, Remus was more than capable of mistaking his best friend for a meal. A nervous pit began to develop in Lily's stomach. Was it remotely possible that James had escaped without a bite? The thought that James's life could forever be changed left Lily feeling incredibly nauseous.

"You look far too worried about someone you claim to hate," Snape muttered, as Madam Leanders stepped into her office.

"Makes sense, as I don't hate him," Lily replied dryly.

Snape coughed in disbelief.

"You heard me," Lily reassured him.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "What happened to the, 'Potter, you're so arrogant, big-headed, chauvinistic, etc.' days?" he asked.

"Take the amount you and I have grown apart, reverse it, and apply it to me and James," Lily replied. "I'm not saying I like him. I'm just saying that I no longer hate him."

"So does that mean you hate me now?" Snape asked irritably.

Lily shook her head. "I don't hate you. But I don't claim to know you really any more."

"An what is that supposed to mean?" Snape asked.

Lily shrugged. "You have bigger and better friends now. Severus, you really don't need to pretend like you care what I think."

Snape opened his mouth to respond, but Madam Leaders returned to the ward from her office with a steaming bowl of some sort of liquid. She brought the solution over to Snape, and started wiping his nose.

"It's not broken," she said to him. "We'll have you fixed up in just a minute."

"Thanks," he muttered, rather nasally.

After squirting some of the liquid up his nose, to which Snape coughed, she cleared him to leave the hospital wing.

"If you don't mind, actually, I'd like to wait for Lily," Snape said.

Madam Leanders turned to Lily. "Just the cut on the cheek?" she asked.

Lily nodded. "That and I've been feeling rather dizzy," she lied. Whatever irritable or unfriendly thing Snape had to say, Lily didn't care to hear it right now. She was far more worried about potentially-a-new-werewolf James and wanted to be with him when he woke up if at all possible.

Madam Leanders shuffled over to her and examined her head and eyesight. "You don't appear to be concussed," she said. "But we better keep you overnight, just to be sure. You know that means waking up every hour, don't you?"

Lily nodded, but Snape shook his head looking surprisingly dejected.

"Well then, Mr. Snape," Madam Leanders said. "You can come collect Lily in the morning, if you like."

"That won't be necessary," he replied, and he bowed his way out.

Madam Leanders applied some of the same paste she had put on James's wounds to Lily's cheek, and although it stung immensely, she could actually feel the cut closing and healing.

"You'll never know it was there," Madam Leanders said, as she now blotted it with a moist cloth.

"Great," Lily said quietly. "How about his wounds?" she then asked, nodding her head towards James.

"They should disappear, too," she replied. "Well, all of the scratches at least. Whatever doesn't disappear, we'll know was a bite. His cuts are so deep though, we won't be able to tell until the morning for sure."

Lily's stomach churned again nervously.

Madam Leanders then flicked her wand at the nightstand next to Lily, making a goofy golden alarm clock appear.

"It will go off every hour," she reminded Lily again. "Now it's already 5 past midnight. You better try to get some sleep."

Lily nodded. It was going to be a long night. But she was positive she wouldn't be sleeping if she had been in her dorm anyway.

Lily lay for a long time curled up on her side, facing James. His messy black hair was even more disheveled than normal and he was twitching slightly every once in a while in his sleep. The overall innocence of his stationary figure made Lily's heart ache as she thought about James's life being forever changed.

It was the first time, in actuality, that Lily really thought about life after graduation. Well, she at first thought about how life might be for James if he was now a werewolf. But then she began thinking about her own future. She already knew she was going to begin working for the ministry, in the department of international affairs. And Kylie and Britta were going to work for the ministry, too, but in different departments. But tonight was the first time that she realized, after graduation, she wouldn't be seeing James every day, like she had for the past 6 years. And that thought made her heart ache more.

The night had sure been an eventful one in terms of her emotions. And laying here, facing James in his injured state, she knew, she was about to admit the ultimate revelation. That aching in her heart was only happening for one reason. She had lied to Snape. She did actually like James. After all this time, and all her hatred for him, she now actually had feelings for him.

She wondered for a long time about how it happened. What had changed in him or was it something that had changed in her? After a while, she decided, however, that it didn't matter. Just the fact that she was willing to admit it was enough to think about for one night.

Beep! Beep Beep Beep! Beep!

Lily jumped about a foot. And so apparently it was one in the morning.

"What the bloody hell is that?" James mumbled groggily.

"Alarm," Lily replied quietly.

"What time is it?" he asked. His eyes were still closed.

"One."

"Why is there an alarm going off at one?"

"Doctor's orders," Lily replied.

James opened his eyes. "Lily?" he asked, turning his head to squint at her in the dim light.

"Yep."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Doctor's orders," she said again.

He sat up in bed. "Were you hurt?" he asked seriously.

"Not really," Lily replied.

"Are we playing 20 questions?" he asked.

"Umm, no?"

"Could you start answering me with more than two words then?" His tone was playful, not irritated.

Lily laughed. "Technically if we were playing 20 questions, I would only be answering with 'yes or no.'"

"Technicality," he replied.

"Yes, that's what I said."

"Well, thanks anyway," he said.

"For what?" Lily asked.

"For replying to me with more than two words, duh."

"Anytime," Lily replied.

"And we're back to where we started."

Lily laughed again.

"Seriously, Lils. Why are you here? Are you okay?" James asked. Lily could make out his eyes in the dim light, and there was no doubt that he was concerned. Lily gave in; she would answer him honestly.

"I got hit by the Whomping Willow running after you. Cut my cheek, though Madam Leanders fixed that up in a millisecond. I told her I was feeling dizzy, so she's set me up with this alarm all night just in case I am concussed."

"You told her you were feeling dizzy?" he asked.

"Yes, that's what I said," Lily replied.

"So you weren't actually feeling dizzy?" he asked.

"My turn for questions, Potter," she responded, purposely changing the subject.

"But-"

"How are you feeling? Dumbledore is so worried. Do you remember what happened down there? Does your shoulder still hurt at all? Does anything else feel strange?" Lily stuttered a bunch of questions to try to refocus James's mind.

"I feel fine," he replied. "Tired, but fine."

"Nothing feels strange at all?" she asked.

"No, why would it?" he replied.

"Well, if Remus bit you…" she trailed off.

"He didn't," he replied, nonchalantly.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"So he could have?" she asked.

"Well, yes."

"James, how are you not freaking out?" Lily asked horrified.

"Because it wouldn't matter if he did," James replied, looking at her seriously.

Lily stared at him for a minute. "You're telling me you wouldn't care if you were turned into a werewolf?"

"No, I'm telling you he couldn't have turned me into a werewolf," James replied.

Lily stared at him for another minute. "I don't think I'm following you."

"Aren't you tired?" he asked.

"Not now," she replied. "I'm just confused."

James took a deep breath, and sat up more in his bed.

"I wasn't planning on telling you this like this. This is basically my last secret that I have to share with you," he started.

Lily herself got a little nervous, and she wasn't quite sure why.

"And this isn't just my secret. Sirius, Remus, Peter and I all share it, and no one else in the school knows. You have to swear to me you won't tell anyone," he continued.

"I would never, James. Just like I'd never say anything about your map or cloak," Lily replied.

"This is more serious, Lily. I mean it. We could get in trouble, not just at Hogwarts, but with the ministry, too. You're sure you want to know?" he asked.

Lily looked at him for a minute, contemplating what he was saying. He had done something illegal, it sounded like. If it was something really that bad, could she really keep his secret? Or was she obligated to tell someone?

"You must be having quite an influence on me, James," she finally said.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean, I don't care if you broke rules. I'd like to know, and I swear I won't tell anyone," she said.

James beamed. He swung his legs around so he was facing her, his feet dangling off the side of the bed.

"So, I'm not sure where to start exactly. I guess from the beginning," he laughed at himself, running his fingers through his hair. Lily's heart fluttered slightly.

"Well, as you know, Lils, Remus is a werewolf. Sirius, Peter and I figured it out in our second year, and naturally, wanted to know all about it. Remus talked about how painful and awful his transformations were, like he's said he's told you, and Sirius, Peter and I became determined to do something that would make it a little better for him.

"The genius idea was inspired by Remus one day, although, by accident. He was explaining to us how he was only a threat to humans. Not even deer or rabbits run from him when he's in his wolf form. And that's when I was struck with the idea, that maybe, just maybe, if we could turn into animals, we could accompany him while he transformed.

"From that day onward, it became a mission for Sirius, Peter and I to learn as much as possible about the Animagus transfiguration. Originally, Remus was against it. He claimed it was too dangerous. But when he realized he wasn't going to change our minds, he came around to the idea.

"We studied every waking moment for the next three years, because, as I'm sure you know, the transfiguration can go terribly wrong if performed incorrectly. Well, we finally braved it, and managed it, in our fifth year. And we've been running with Remus every full month since."

Lily closed her mouth, because apparently, without realizing it, at some point it had fallen open in shock.

"You are- are seriously animagi?" she stuttered. "All three of you?"

James nodded. "And that's why I could face Remus tonight. I put a body-bind on Snape, and luckily, he landed facedown, so he missed me transform. I fought Remus off in my animal form, so even if he did bite me, it doesn't have any lasting impact."

Lily just stared at him, unable to speak. A minute ticked by.

"Lily say something," James said.

Lily shook herself. "I'm sorry, James. I'm just… I'm just _amazed_."

James beamed for the second time that night.

"So," Lily started slowly. "What animals do you guys turn into?"

"Well, Peter turns into a rat, so he can easily slide under the Willow's branches and prod the knot. And Sirius and I, well we're both bigger animals. He turns into a large dog and I–"

"-turn into a stag," Lily finished.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "How did you-?" he trailed off.

"Past conversations we've had just clicked. Like, end of last year, you asked me if I'd ever date a chauvinistic stag. And just a few weeks ago, that day by the lake, Sirius claimed I was like a doe, and that I'd match perfectly with a stag."

"You would," James laughed.

And Lily felt herself blush.

But then James started blushing, too. "Oh man, I didn't mean it like that. I meant you would put all that together so fast. No you would match perfectly with a stag."

"Oh," Lily replied.

"Not that you wouldn't match perfectly with a stag," he backtracked.

Lily laughed awkwardly. "Don't worry about it, James." She chanced a glance at him, just when he looked at her, too. And they both instantly looked away.

"So, how's your head?" James asked, desperate for a change of topic.

"Fine," Lily replied.

"Hey, that reminds me," he said. "Why did you lie about being dizzy?"

"Who says I was lying?" she replied, again avoiding the answer, and very upset he had remembered her obvious avoidance of it earlier.

"Oh come off it, Lils. You changed the topic faster than Filch can scream 'detention,'" he laughed.

Lily shrugged defeated. "Okay, I wasn't dizzy."

"So why did you say you were?"

"Because- because I wanted to- to avoid Severus," she said wildly. She wasn't quite ready to admit to James that she had been worried about him.

"Ah yes, Snape's nose got a little banged up. I forgot that. He wasn't too pleased with me," he laughed.

"He wasn't too pleased with anyone," Lily replied. "He was trying to wait for me to get cleaned up so we could have a talk. But I really didn't want to deal with his irritable accusations any longer."

"Accusations?" James said. "What sort of accusations was he making of you?"

Lily kicked herself mentally. She had dug herself another hole. Maybe she was actually concussed, because usually she was more careful with her own words. She decided to take a small plunge.

"That I don't hate you," she said.

"And how did you respond to that accusation?" James asked.

Lily smiled at him. "I think you can tell that I don't hate you anymore."

James smiled back at her. "I can. And I really like it."

"James?"

"Yep?"

"Can I be super awkward?" she asked.

James paused. "Sure."

"Can I give you a hug?"

James laughed.

"What's funny?" she asked.

"Nothing. Come here."

And Lily got out of her own bed, and walked over to his bed. She felt her butterflies building in her stomach which each step she took towards him, but finally, she sat down next to him, and pulled him into a hug.

"You were worried about me too, huh?" James muttered into her ear, breathing in the scent of her hair. "That's also why you stayed."

"Guilty," Lily muttered back.

"I'm glad you did," he whispered.

"Me too," she said.

The two sat for a few moments silently holding each other. After a few more seconds, James broke the silence, still holding Lily to his chest.

"You know, we've never actually hugged each other before," he said.

"We've been missing out," she responded.

"Agreed," he smiled, and he pulled away slightly to look down at her.

Lily felt the butterflies explode inside of her stomach as she looked back at James. He glanced down at her lips, and she could tell, with certainty, that he was thinking about kissing her. She had to be turning fire-engine red, and she was so thankful it was dark in the room.

"Lily?" he asked, still staring into her eyes.

"Yes?" she breathed.

"Would you mind if-"

Beep! Beep Beep Beep! Beep!

This time, both James and Lily jumped about a foot. And so it was two in the morning.

James laughed awkwardly, and ran his hand through his hair. "Perfect timing," he mumbled.

"That's really going to go off every hour tonight?" he then asked.

Lily nodded her head. "Yeah, sorry about that," she said.

"Nah, it's great," he said. "Our own personal alarm clock."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him, as he swung his legs back on to the bed, and scooted over the far side of it. "Lay with me until the next one goes off?" he asked, placing his hand on top of hers.

Lily smiled, and glanced over to Madam Leanders office. It was still black. "Okay," she said. "But only until the next alarm."

James beamed for the third time that night, and pulled her over to him. "We can start making up for some of those hugs we missed the last 6 years," he whispered.

Lily felt amazing lying with her head on his shoulder and one arm draped over his chest, while his arms wrapped around her back and waist. James was safe, and not a werewolf, and that thought was exceptionally comforting to her. It was the first time that night that she felt truly relaxed and secure, and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

James stayed awake a while longer, breathing in Lily's scent, and cherishing each second he spent holding her. For six years he had dreamed of her being in his arms, and here she was, sound asleep, so peacefully. James couldn't help but think that every effort he had ever made with Lily had been absolutely worth it, just for this moment.

When the next alarm went off, and she began to pull away from him, he pulled her closer, and whispered, "Just one more."

Groggily, she conceded. "Just one more."

After another hour had passed, James tried the same line again, and Lily again agreed, "Just one more."

However, at five o'clock, Lily rejected James's request. "We're still head boy and girl, you know," she mumbled.

"How could I forget, with you always there to remind me?" he teased her.

She smiled, as she pushed herself away from him, and sleepily left his bed for her own.

"I'll miss you," he whispered to her.

"I'll miss you, too," she replied with a yawn.

James turned on to his back, and stared up at the ceiling, beaming, again, now for the fourth time that night.

**A/N: Two chapters in one week! That's right! I'll try to keep it up if you like what I have going so far. So just REVIEW and let me know. **

**Oh, and my family just got a red toy poodle puppy. I convinced everyone to name her Lily. Am I too obsessesed with fanfiction? Never. ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: You people are rocking my socks off! The support is AMAZING and I must say, that story traffic feature? Um, really entertaining. Shout out to where ever you are in the world! I'm in California!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 9_

When Lily woke up in the hospital wing to the 6AM alarm, she was surprised to see James facing her, already awake. Lily felt herself blush slightly. Had he been watching her sleep? For a second she was disoriented as to why she was in the hospital in the first place, but then the memories of the night flooded back to Lily, and she felt her face reddening madly.

"Morning," he mumbled, smiling slightly.

"Hi," she replied, glancing at him, then averting her eyes quickly away.

She felt her stomach beginning to build with butterflies again. Had she really slept in James's arms for three hours last night? And did she really admit to herself that she had feelings for him? Yes and yes. A jolt from Madam Leanders office distracted Lily from her thoughts.

"Good, you're both awake," Madam Leanders said, as she walked over to the two of them.

"How are you feeling, Miss Evans?" she asked. "Still dizzy at all?"

"I feel fine," Lily responded. Madam Leanders ran a few checks on Lily, and deemed her able to leave.

"See you in the common room or at class, James," Lily muttered, still not making eye contact, and she shuffled from the room.

James watched Lily's retreating figure sadly. That was not the reaction he had hoped to get from her this morning. He had been so elated by the night's events, and he felt that elation plummet like a popped balloon. He had revealed to her every interesting facet of his personality, and he realized, with a sickening thought, that if she still didn't like him, he really didn't have any more options. He would have to give up his quest for Lily's heart. He had hoped so sincerely that this would be enough to win her over. But now it just seemed like she was regretting the time she had spent with him. They didn't even _do_ anything. James felt frustrated and confused, but most of all, hurt.

Lily quickly began the walk from the hospital wing to the Gryffindor common room. She knew she hadn't been very nice to James just now, but it was the best manners she could muster. There was just something so wrong about falling for James Potter. _James Potter!_ This thought had been flashing in her brain from the moment she woke up. All she knew was that she had felt desperate to get away from him and she needed some time to think.

Lily found that this was one of those moments in life where her head was not agreeing with her heart. All rational thought reminded Lily of the reasons she had despised James so immensely for basically her entire academic career. But her heart was absolutely on the opposite page. Lily had always been a firm believer that people don't change. And so, it was hard for her to trust her heart and accept that James was different, and datable, now that they were in 7th year. But as she thought about it further, James really hadn't changed. He had just grown up. They had both grown up. They had grown together, in a way that was now compatible.

Lily smiled when she realized that her heart and head actually agreed. And then she thought wildly, _what will the school think?_ This thought made her laugh out loud as she rounded the corner to the common room.

*******************

When James arrived at the Gryffindor common room, he scanned the room quickly, but did not see Lily. He sadly made his way up to the boys' staircase, to where only Peter was still sleeping. James wondered momentarily where Sirius was, and remembered, of course, that Remus was still probably at the Shrieking Shack.

"Morning, Prongs," Peter yawned.

"Morning, Wormtail," James grumbled.

"Where were you all last night? I thought we were going to meet Remus at ten?" he asked.

James really wasn't in the mood to relay the night's events.

"We had a bit of an accident. I have some really nasty paste all over my left shoulder though, so I'm going to go take a shower. I'll fill you in at lunch today," James replied, grabbing his towel, and walking into the washroom. James regretted slightly that he wasn't being nicer to Peter, but he just couldn't be bothered with a long explanation and all of Peter's pestering questions when he already felt so down.

James made his way down the boys' staircase at 7:15 without Peter, who had fallen back asleep. He planned to stumble to breakfast before a long day of sleep-deprived attendance at classes. But as James made his way toward the portrait hole, he saw Lily's head bobbing slightly as she wrote furiously in front of the fireplace.

He took a deep breath and walked over to her. He'd give this one more shot.

"I think a night in the hospital wing exempts you from homework, you know," he said to her.

"Oh, this isn't homework. I did all that last night before our meeting. These are the letters we needed to write to the Scary Skeletons and Betty Vampiracal to confirm the skeletons and bats for the Halloween feast next week," Lily said quickly, still scribbling madly and not looking up at him.

"It's a very lucky thing you are head girl," James replied.

"Why is that?" she asked, still not making eye contact.

James shifted a little uncomfortably and didn't answer her. Why couldn't she look at him? Was she feeling that guilty about last night?

"James, you there?" she asked.

"Oh, Yeah. 'Course. Stuff like this just would never happen if it was only me," he replied.

Now Lily ignored him, and continued scribbling. James again shifted uncomfortably where he was standing. More students were starting to come down the stairs to head to breakfast before class.

"Done!" she exclaimed, as she signed her name at the base of a second letter. She threw the letters into envelopes, and then looked up at him. She was smiling, and James felt some of his uneasiness disappear.

"Sorry, I just really wanted to get those done before class. That way we can go to the owlery after transfiguration. Well, you don't have to come. Just if you want…" Lily trailed off.

"'Course I'll go with you," James answered quickly.

"Great. And you're wrong, by the way. I think you'd remember this stuff if you knew that I wouldn't remember it for you," Lily said, reverting back to his earlier statement.

James looked at her slightly puzzled.

"Hm, we haven't studied together much, have we?" Lily said. "Well, if we ever do in the future, you'll come to realize that when someone talks to me while I'm in the middle of something, I respond on about a thirty second delay, at least. It drives Kylie and Britta crazy."

"Good to know," he nodded.

"So shall we go down to breakfast?" she said.

"Sure, but I thought you don't eat breakfast," he replied.

"Ha, I don't know about you, but I'm going to need some coffee to get through this day," she said. "But, I don't have to go with you if you don't want."

"That's not what I meant," James mumbled.

"Can we be any more awkward?" Lily laughed.

"Not my fault you were so hard to decipher this morning," he smiled back.

"Eeee, okay, I'll give you that," Lily replied. "A lot happened last night. Lots to think about, you know…"

The awkward tension of their conversation wasn't breaking. They were both sincerely trying to be normal, but they were failing miserably.

As a welcoming interruption to their uncomfortable pause, Sirius ducked through the portrait hole, smelling positively tremendous. He spotted James and Lily, and trudged over to them.

"Dragon dung," he said. "I have been scooping dragon dung all night to fertilize the strawberry patches. I will never eat a strawberry again."

"Ew, sorry mate," James said, wrinkling his nose. "But really, one night of detention, that's not too bad."

"One night! Ha. I have detention every night for a month! I just struck a deal with Hagrid that I would do triple shifts last night so I could play in the quidditch match next Saturday!" Sirius exclaimed. "You, er, okay though? No lasting damage?"

James nodded. "Yep, I'm fine."

"Remus isn't going to be when he comes back though…" Sirius muttered. "Well, I'm going to hit the showers."

"Good idea," James replied.

Sirius lumbered up the boys' staircase, students crinkling their noses as he passed. James then looked at Lily, who had stayed silent during the exchange.

"He smelled really bad," Lily said.

James laughed. "Yes, he did. That's pretty rough though, a month straight of detention. Two weeks was our record, and that was painful."

"I'm surprised he wasn't expelled though," Lily muttered.

James nodded his head. "I hate to admit it, but I agree."

"Do you think Remus will forgive him?" Lily asked.

"I do, but only because it's Remus," James replied.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Lily said.

"Well then, shall we go down to break-" James started, only to be cut off my Britta and Kylie who were walking down the girls' staircase.

"Lily!" Britta hollered, scrambling over to where James and Lily were standing.

"Where have you been? We've been so worried!" Kylie exclaimed.

Lily glanced at James apologetically. "I'll see you in class," she said.

James nodded, and exited out of the portrait hole, wishing that he were still asleep, holding Lily, in the hospital wing.

* * *

As the day progressed, both James and Lily found it nearly impossible to keep their eyes open. They were sitting on the opposite sides of the room in transfiguration, and by no means conversing with each other. But Professor McGonagall found she was so distracted by each of their continual yawns in her peripheral vision that she finally pursed her lips and ordered them to follow her out of the classroom.

"I want you both to go pack up your books and go get some sleep," she said.

"But-" Lily started.

"Miss Evans, this is not a request. You will catch up on the lesson, I have no doubt," she replied.

Lily nodded sadly, while James was finding it difficult to hide a smile.

"Now go in and get your books," she ordered, ushering them through the door, and again taking her spot in the front of the classroom.

James and Lily both packed up their bookbags quickly, and could feel eyes watching their every move.

"Where are you going?" Kylie whispered. Lily shrugged.

"Our head boy and girl have some business to attend to," Professor McGonagall stated to the distracted class. "Now if you will please refocus your attention to the lesson at hand."

Once they were out of the classroom, James looked excitedly at Lily. "Can you believe our luck?!" he exclaimed.

Lily didn't show nearly as much excitement. "That's the first time I've been kicked out of a class," she replied.

James laughed. "Oh, lighten up, Lils. It's not like you were kicked out for misbehaving. You were in the _hospital wing_ all night, and McGonagall knows that."

Lily nodded.

"Oh hey," she said, stopping where she was. "Owlery. Mind if he head there before we go back to the common room?"

"Oh yeah, let's go," James replied.

So they turned around, and began heading towards the eastern end of the castle. They both walked silently for a while, again unsure of what to say to the other. Lily now felt frustrated and fed up with their situation. Maybe the school never would find out that she now liked James Potter because maybe she would never even have a normal conversation with him again.

"Let's just forget last night happened," Lily finally said.

"What?" James asked, startled. He felt his stomach drop as he realized she did regret last night as much as he had feared.

"I want things to be normal again," she responded.

James nodded. He then furrowed his brow.

"What exactly is normal these days?"

Lily glanced at him and bit her lip. That was a good question.

"Okay, let me rephrase this," James then said, after she gave him no response. "What exactly do you want? With regards to you and me?"

Lily continued biting her lip. What she wanted was to be in his arms again, but she wasn't about to say that out loud. She glanced over James's features: his messy black hair, shining brown eyes (that at the moment were full of emotion), and totally kissable-looking lips. Lily shook her head at herself. It was crazy how incredibly attractive he had become to her.

They were almost to the owlery now, and Lily was looking desperately for an escape from answering. So, she began digging through her bookbag, looking for the letters they were here to send.

After she retrieved the letters, she took a deep breath. Okay, she was going to just lay her feelings out there.

"James-" she started, but he put up his hand, and nodded his head towards the owlery.

Lily looked at him confused, then heard voices talking angrily from the depths of the owlery. Lily found it odd, as all students should have been in class.

"But Lucius said to respond as quickly as possible," a deep voice argued.

"Well you didn't need to respond for me," another voice hissed. Lily knew that voice. It was Snape.

"But he said the Dark Lord was waiting for our response, for our confirmation to meet him," the deep voice said again.

"Don't ever make responses in my name again," Snape snapped, and James and Lily could both hear footsteps now approaching them.

"Quick," James whispered, grabbing Lily's hand, and pulling her behind the shadows of a suit of armor.

Snape stormed past them, and the Slytherin bloke, Nott, followed him, a few seconds later. Once they were out of sight, James jumped out of the shadows of the suit of armor, leaving Lily wishing he were still pushed up against her. But she also recognized that they had just overheard a very private conversation.

"Did you hear that?!" he exclaimed.

Lily nodded her head fervently.

Sickening news of a Dark Lord, called Lord Voldemort, had been continually increasing in the last year. The information reported on him was still limited, but peculiar and mysterious murders occurring around the magical community were all supposedly linked to him. He inexplicably always evaded the Aurors on his tail, and there were even rumors of him gaining followers, who now were starting to perform his dirty work. The conversation they had just overheard confirmed to Lily that the rumors were true, and she could hardly believe he was now recruiting at Hogwarts. And even worse, it sounded like he may have even recruited Snape.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Well, we can't really do anything, other than keep an eye on the two," James replied. "We don't have any proof of anything without the letter, and it's obviously long gone by now."

"We maybe should tell Dumbledore," Lily said, walking now into the depths of the owlery, and summoning two of the school owls. She tied one letter to a leg of each owl, and saw them off through the window.

"Something about him, this Lord Voldemort, really gives me the creeps," she then said, still gazing out the window at the disappearing owls.

James looked at her thoughtfully. He then walked over to her and put his arm around her.

"Don't worry, Lils," he kind of laughed. "I'll always keep you safe."

Lily looked up at his face and smiled. As much as he was trying to make it sound like a joke, she knew he meant it. She looked into his eyes for a few seconds.

"I want to take this slow," she said.

"I can do that," James nodded, a large grin spreading across his face. His chances with her weren't over, like he feared. She actually wanted to give this a shot. He wanted to kiss her so badly at that moment, but she had requested to move 'slow.' So slow didn't mean kiss her straightaway, right?

"Er, well we should probably get back to the common room," he said, letting go of her.

Lily nodded and began the walk back to the common room beside him. She was smiling slightly, and she could see that he was, too. After about half their walk, their hands brushed twice in a row. The third time, James caught her hand lightly, and placed his fingers so they interlocked with hers. He glanced at her questioningly for approval, and Lily smiled wider in response. She giggled silently to herself. This was so cheesy, but so nice. Her fingers felt tingly, intertwined with his, and butterflies again erupted in her stomach. When they reached the common room, Lily began to pull her hand out of his, but he held her fingers gently.

"Classes don't get out for another hour," he said. "Come lay with me for forty-five minutes?"

Lily bit her lip again, and James could visibly see her struggling with the decision.

"Okay," she finally said, and she followed him up to his dormitory.

**A/N: And that's it for now!!! I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter, so feedback would be seriously appreciated. I kinda think it sucks, but it's just really how I see James and Lily's relationship beginning. You hate a person, and then you love them? There has to be a lot of internal conflict going on when that happens, right? And anyone who knows me will agree, I'm super awkward, so the awkwardness, naturally, had to be written in. Haha.**

**Meh seriously, let me know what you think so far and anything you would like to see happen. I need help! ~ Heraclas**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hi everyone! I am seriously sorry that it has been a few weeks since I've posted. I got super busy with life and just couldn't find time to write! No excuses, I know. Anyway, I want to give a special shout-out thanks to some of my recent reviewers: 5thmarauder, PinkSlytherin, BellaBiter, LOLhaily, leoshunny1985, zammierox (socalhockeychick), RestingInBayern, CuteTpie, izzy, KThxBai, Dereia, and Fiona. You guys are the reason I'm still writing!! Alrighty, well enough of my chitchat… I hope you enjoy chapter 10!**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 10 _

James's eyes closed almost instantly as he fell in to bed, pulling Lily after him. Lily fiddled with the clock on James's nightstand and set it for 3:38, a good seven minutes before classes should get out for the evening. As it was only just now 3, that would give them ample time to take a short nap.

"Come on, Lils," he muttered, pulling at her, but still keeping his eyes closed.

Lily giggled slightly. What was she doing, seriously? She was head girl! She should not be in the boy's dormitory, in bed with a boy; mind you, the head boy.

"Come here," he muttered again, now slightly opening his eyes, and feeding her his perfect half-smile.

And that right there was why she was doing this. She felt a smile spread across her own face as she nestled herself into James's arms. She wondered momentarily if the butterflies would ever stop fluttering when she touched him. But then, quite instantly, she too was fast asleep.

* * *

Remus was fuming as he trudged up the boys' staircase. How, honestly, could Sirius play such a horrible trick at his expense? Did he seriously not understand the gravity of the situation if he had bitten Snape? Never again would he let his friends join him at the full moon. And never again would he trust Sirius with anything.

Remus slammed the dormitory door open far more forcefully than he meant to. He took a deep breath, as the door rattled in its hinges. No one had gotten permanently hurt, he reminded himself.

The hangings around James's bed closed rapidly, pulling Remus from his own thoughts.

"James?" Remus asked, walking towards his friend's bed.

"Moony?" James responded, sleepily. He poked his head out of the hangings, and smiled sheepishly at his friend.

Remus's stern look wiped the smile off of James's face at once.

"I'm so sorry, Remus, honestly," James said.

Remus shook his head. "Dumbledore told me what you did. And what Sirius did. Please don't _you_ apologize. I owe you so much."

"No you don't," James replied.

"Well, I can at least thank you," Remus said.

"Well, you're welcome," James nodded.

"What are you doing out of class anyway?" Remus asked, now walking over to his own bed.

A-CHOO!

"Excuse me," James said.

Remus turned and looked at his friend. "You sneeze like a girl, did you know?" he said.

James shrugged. "I'll work on-

A-CHOO!

-that," he finished.

Remus eyed his friend peculiarly. "Is someone in _bed_ with you, James?"

James shook his head rapidly. "I wish," he laughed.

A-CHOO!

James just continued laughing as Remus stared at his friend incredulously.

"Who?" Remus asked.

James ran his fingers through his hair, knowing that he and Lily were caught. He closed the hangings, hiding Remus from view, and looked over at Lily for directions as to what to do next.

"Sorry!" she mouthed. "I think I got a feather up my nose!"

Lily kept rubbing her nose and trying to look down at it, making her appear rather cross-eyed. James now laughed at her.

Remus pulled back the hangings.

"Lily!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"Hi Remus," she muttered, her face turning brighter than both her hair and the scarlet bed linens.

Remus opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Lily pushed herself up out of his bed, and sidled past Remus, who was still staring at her, flabbergasted.

"Well, I better be off," she mumbled, and turned and walked out of the dormitory.

Remus watched her until the dormitory door shut, his eyes still bulging. He then turned back toward his good friend.

"You might not want to pull the curtains back in the future, Moony. You never know, we could have been naked," James said smartly.

"When? How?" Remus stuttered, ignoring James's last comment.

"Last night," James replied. "And that's why you owe me nothing." James couldn't take the smile off his face. He knew he had to look like a prime idiot, but he didn't care.

"Are you guys _dating_?" Remus asked.

"Well, no," James replied.

"Have you kissed her?" Remus then asked.

"Well, no," James replied again.

"Hmmm, so this is quite new, is it?" Remus mumbled, seemingly more to himself.

James nodded.

"Does Sirius know?" Remus then finally asked.

James looked at his friend slightly surprised. "Well, no. No one knows. Except you, that is. And I would like to keep it that way, if you don't mind."

A grin slowly spread across Remus's face.

James's expression changed from surprise to suspiciousness. "Moony, what are you thinking?"

"Oh, I won't tell anyone, Jamesey-James," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"I don't like your tone, Moony," James replied, uncomfortably.

The dormitory door then opened, and Sirius and Peter walked into the dormitory. They had been talking, but stopped abruptly when they saw Remus in the room. Tension so thick it could have been sliced with a knife erupted between Remus and Sirius immediately.

"Moony," Sirius mumbled, nodding his head slightly.

"Padfoot," Remus replied, no longer smiling.

"Look, Moony, I'm really sorry-" Sirius started, but Remus held up his hand to stop him.

"It's nothing, Padfoot," Remus interrupted.

Sirius looked at his friend, and could tell it was definitely _not_ nothing. He had been a daft idiot, and he knew it, and he was fully ready to admit it. But, he also didn't want to push the situation. He walked over to Remus and held out his hand. Remus shook it. James and Peter looked back and forth between their two friends, afraid to say anything.

"So, anything new?" Remus asked.

Sirius looked up at his friend, suspecting that this somehow was a trick question. But Remus was waiting expectantly for his response, so Sirius shook his head.

"Well, there's something new with me," Remus continued, a smile now playing on his lips. "Do you want to know what it is?"

Sirius felt like he was walking on eggshells. He had never seen his friend act like this; like a bomb seconds away from explosion. Sirius nodded.

"Well, I suppose there isn't much new here with me, actually. More with our dear friend, Prongs," he smiled.

Sirius quickly looked at James, confused and intrigued.

"Moony, come on," James interjected. "You said you wouldn't."

"And I won't, dear friend," Remus continued.

"What is he going off about?" Sirius asked James, finally finding his voice, but James was clenching his jaw, staring furiously at Remus.

"Prongs has a girlfriend," Remus said defiantly.

"Sorry?" Sirius replied.

"She's not my girlfriend," James muttered, unclenching his jaw.

"Okay, I caught him with a girl," Remus clarified.

"Lily?!" Sirius exclaimed, his mouth widening into an excited smile.

"Nope," Remus replied quickly.

"What? Then who?" Sirius asked, looking back and forth between Remus and James.

"Yes, who?" James challenged Remus.

But Remus laughed at James. "And now where is fun in giving out answers so easily?"

Remus then turned to Sirius. "This is round one of me getting back at you."

Sirius's jaw dropped. "You mean you caught James with a girl and you aren't going to tell me the details?"

"Not until I have fully tortured you," Remus replied.

Sirius frowned. He deserved this, maybe, but James was his best friend. He and James didn't have any secrets.

"You'll tell me, Prongs, won't you?" Sirius asked, widening his eyes and lifting his eyebrows to feed him his puppy-dog face.

"That face only works for girls, mate," James laughed.

Unperturbed by his first failure, Sirius ran across the room and jumped onto the end of James's bed. "Who is it, Prongs, who is it?" he sang, bouncing up and down, making the mattress shake James like jello.

"Moony, you realize this is just going to make him an annoying, whiny, mangy mutt, don't you?" James complained.

"Who is it, Prongs-"

Remus nodded to James. "Oh yes, but it will also drive him crazy."

"-who is it?"

"If you keep shaking this bed, Padfoot, you're going to end up worse than crazy," James said over the squeaking noise of the mattress coils.

But Sirius just kept jumping and repeating himself. "Who is it, Prongs, who is it?"

James quickly glared at Remus before pouncing on Sirius, tackling him to the floor.

* * *

Lily accompanied Britta to breakfast next morning, as she had skipped dinner the previous night so as not to chance running into Remus. She could still feel her face glow red with embarrassment every time she thought about Remus pulling back the bed hangings. Damn feathers.

"What is up with you, Lily?" Britta asked, as they entered the Great Hall. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"Just hungry. By the way, what are you writing about for that essay Slughorn assigned us?" Lily replied, quickly changing the subject.

"I was thinking veritaserum could be interesting," Britta said. "What about you?"

"Maybe bezoars," Lily replied. "Should be a tough essay altogether though. I'm not looking forward to it."

"Me neither," Britta agreed. "I'm not a fan of NEWTs, that's for sure."

They sat down at the Gryffindor table and started helping themselves to eggs, toast, broiled tomatoes and bacon.

"Hey guys," Kylie said, setting down her books next to them. "You'll never guess what I just heard."

"A hippogriff ate Mrs. Norris?" Lily guessed.

"I wish," Kylie laughed. "But no, this is better."

"Well, out with it," Britta said.

"James has a girlfriend!" Kylie said.

Lily choked on the piece of toast she was chewing, and quickly washed it down with some pumpkin juice. Britta eyed her slightly suspiciously.

"Who?" she tried to ask casually.

"No one, knows, actually," she replied. "Sirius just told me that Remus apparently walked in on them. Of course, my first guess was you, of course, Lily. But Sirius said he already asked Remus that and he said it _wasn't _you. Like you would actually start dating James and not tell us about it though, right?"

"Right," Lily agreed. Suddenly, she didn't feel nearly as hungry, so she set down the piece of toast in her hand.

"I wonder who it could be," Kylie continued.

Lily looked around the hall, and saw tons of small conversations. With a sickening feeling, she knew they were all talking about one thing: James and his unknown girlfriend. When the four marauders entered the hall, a hush fell over the students, and they all turned to look at James. Sirius ignored the obvious attention, however, and bounded over to Kylie.

"So she's told you the news, has she?" he said, as James, Remus, and Peter took seats around him. Remus was smiling broadly at her, and she knew she had to be turning bright red again. Damn her complexion.

Lily nodded, and quickly grabbed her coffee mug to give her something to do with her hands.

"Appears James here is finally over you. Can't hardly believe it myself," he continued.

"Yeah, er, congrats, James," Lily laughed, catching James's eye for a moment. He just shook his head though, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"You're such a prat, Padfoot. And, on that note, so are you, Moony," he said.

"So you're the reason this news is out?" Britta asked Remus.

"Guilty as charged," Remus confessed. "I needed to get back at Sirius here for a prank-gone-wrong. What better way than to drive him mad with curiosity?"

"Little did you know, you'd be driving the rest of the school mad though, too," Britta replied. "I mean look at everyone." She motioned around the hall. Students were actually standing up to look at James better, like maybe his new girlfriend would just somehow materialize.

"What a mess," James muttered.

"Oh, come off it, James. You know this would all just go away if you'd just tell me who she is," Sirius replied through a mouthful of porridge.

James eyes flashed to Lily momentarily. "Well, she's sitting-"

"Now where would the fun in that be?" Lily interrupted quickly.

Sirius looked at her, surprised. "You think this is fun, Evans?"

"Yes, of course," Lily replied. "I mean, I've gotten very used to knowing James wanted to go out with me. I'm intrigued by the girl who changed his mind. But at the same time, it's more fun to wonder and guess."

"Is that a little jealousy, I sense, Evans?" Sirius laughed.

"Maybe," Lily laughed back.

James stabbed his eggs with a little more force than was necessary."You know, I don't really care if you guys know who she is, honestly."

"Oh, but she might, Prongsy," Remus interrupted. "She's, ah, become a bit of a celebrity now. Maybe she doesn't want to be the lime light."

Lily nodded her head in agreement, catching James's eye. He then looked away from her dejectedly. Her heart ached slightly at his saddened expression, but truthfully, she was absolutely not ready for the school to know about her and James. They hadn't even kissed yet! What if it was absolutely terrible and caused their feelings for each other to fizzle? That would be so much harder to deal with if the entire school was prying for details. She truly wanted to see where her relationship could go with James, but she didn't want the added pressure of the entire student body judging their every move. She wished she could convey this to James, as he was now practically denting his plate with his fork as he slammed it down.

"Well, we better get going to class," Britta said, glancing at her watch.

The gang of Gryffindors set down their forks, grabbed their bookbags, and set off for the Charm's classroom.

Sirius nudged James in the ribs as they exited the Great Hall. "Come on, James, who is it?"

James looked up at the back of Lily's head bobbing in front of him, and simply shook his head in response.

**A/N: And that's it for now! Sorry, I didn't edit too thoroughly, so there may be some typos. Buuuuut….**

**Please please please let me know what you think so far! Love it? Hate it? Bored with it? Reviews can only make the story better! And they seriously motivate me to write. So yeah, you know what to do if you want another chapter soon...**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: ****Longest chapter yet - not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Have fun with this one. Ha.**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 11_

James was just about ready to murder both Sirius and Remus as he sat in the common room on Friday night. It had only been two days since Remus had caught Lily in bed with him, and since then, James had not been able to utter a word to her in private. Four times she had come up to him, asking for a moment of his time, but never once had they been able to find any place secluded. James couldn't tell if Sirius had somehow bribed half the student body to constantly follow him around, or if maybe students were really just that curious to uncover who he was dating, but everywhere James went, a crowd of people was always trailing behind him.

James glanced at Lily across the common room. She was sitting with Kylie and Britta, a wizard's chess set spread out in front of them. It looked as though she was trying to give advice to both of the other girls as they furrowed their brows, contemplating their next moves. Lily glanced over to him for a moment, catching him looking at her. She gave him a small smile, which James did not return.

Truthfully, James did not like that Lily wanted to remain anonymous. Why wasn't she proud to stand up next to him? Was she embarrassed by him? Was she maybe already over him? He breathed a heavy sigh. He was really getting tired of her mixed signals. Why were girls so confusing!?

Two owls knocked on the Gryffindor Tower window, which was opened by a second year a few seconds later. Each of the owls soared across the room, one landing in front of James and the other in front of Lily. The barn owl held out its leg, showing James Dumbledore's curly handwriting gleaming from the envelope. James untied the letter and began to read.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_As an addition to the Halloween feast this year, I would like to serve mounds of Honeydukes sweets, and I was hoping you could assist me. If possible, would you and the Head Girl please make a special trip on Saturday afternoon to Hogsmeade to pick up my order? There is a small money bag with which you can pay for the purchase tied to each of the owl's legs. _(James looked at the owl and noticed it again holding out its leg - a small pouch tied to it). _I will remind you that this is not a scheduled Hogsmeade weekend; therefore no other students should be in Hogsmeade with you. If you do see any other students, I implore you deduct a minimum of fifty house points a piece. A carriage will be waiting for you outside of the front doors at 2 pm._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

James had to severely bite his inner lip to keep from smiling broadly. He saw the student's around the common room looking at him curiously, as he handed the letter off to Peter and Remus, who were trying to read the letter over his shoulder. Sirius, of course, was in detention.

"Just head boy duties," he said, loud enough so the other students could hear.

"Trip to Hogsmeade, though. That's cool, James," Peter said.

"Oh, but look, fifty point deduction if anyone else is caught in town. I sure hope no Gryffindors try to follow you there," Remus said loudly.

A few students raised their heads at this statement, and one second year even gasped, "Fifty?"

Remus winked at James.

James's spirits felt slightly higher. So maybe he didn't know what exactly was going on in Lily's head, but at least he was going to get to talk to her in private. Suddenly, he also felt his stomach give a nervous jolt. The prospect of spending a whole afternoon alone with Lily, when they had barely uttered a word to each other the last few days actually seemed intimidating.

"So does 2pm work okay for you?" Lily asked. James hadn't noticed her leave her corner of the common room.

"Just fine," James replied. "Practice should end around one."

"Great," Lily smiled, and then she turned and faced the rest of the common room.

"Now listen up, everyone," she stated loudly, getting the attention of everyone in the common room easily. "James and I have official Head Boy and Girl business in Hogsmeade tomorrow afternoon. By orders from Professor Dumbledore, if _any_ of you are caught in town, we must deduct fifty house points. And as we're in Gryffindor, and you're in Gryffindor, we really don't want to have to do that. That being said, I know many of you have enjoyed following James around these past few days. Well, tomorrow you're going to have to give it a rest. But don't worry; I'll keep a careful eye on him. And if I uncover that mysterious female that the school is just so curious about, I'll be sure to deduct house points from her as well."

A few students laughed at this last statement, but most seemed to nod their head in understanding.

"Oh, and tell your friends," Lily added.

The rest of the common room went back to their prior-to-the-interruption activities, leaving Lily standing by James, Remus, and Peter.

"You tell 'em, Lily," Remus laughed.

Lily felt herself blush slightly. "Rules are rules, Remus," she replied sharply, but she was having trouble hiding a grin.

"Conveniently enough," he continued snickering.

James chuckled with Remus, while Peter stared at them, confused. "Are you guys going to tell me why you're laughing?"

"No," they all replied in unison. To which, they all laughed again.

"Well, see you tomorrow, James," Lily finally said, after she was sure she could speak without hiccupping.

"Yep, meet you here, 1:45?" he replied.

"See you then."

* * *

That Saturday morning quidditch practice seemed like it lasted forever to James. Even with the Ravenclaw match looming only one weekend away, and a mountain of plays and drills to run through with his teammates, the 3-hour practice easily felt like it lasted all week. He was anxious, excited, nervous, and eager to see Lily at 2, and although Sirius didn't know exactly why his best friend seemed to be acting strangely, he could definitely tell something was up.

"You're meeting your girl this afternoon, aren't you?" Sirius asked, as they made their way up towards the castle, their broomsticks over their shoulders.

James shook his head in response, half-smiling. "No, Padfoot. You seriously think Evans's going to let me out of her sight when we're on official Head Boy and Girl business?"

Sirius shrugged. "You make a point. But it still seems fishy. If I didn't have another damn detention, I'd be following you myself."

"Sirius, honestly, if this girl and I really get into a relationship, I'll tell you. By Remus saying he caught us together, well, he caught us - er - hugging. She's not even my girlfriend. All of this is so blown out of proportion, it's insane," James replied.

Sirius shrugged again, and grumbled, "Remus really does know me. This mystery is driving me crazy."

James laughed, "Well, Remus has always been the one to read people perfectly. I'd swear he had some sort of secret power if I didn't know him better. Hmmm. Maybe it's a werewolf thing."

"Whatever it is, I'm not a fan," Sirius replied.

"Just give me a week, Sirius, so I can figure this mess out for myself," James said.

Sirius looked at him thoughtfully. "You really like her, don't you?" he asked.

James nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

"I still can't believe it's not Lily," Sirius mumbled.

"The world's full of surprises," James responded vaguely. "Which, that reminds me. I should grab a sandwich before I hit the showers. You want to come with me?"

"Duh," Sirius replied. "I need to eat before I scoop dragon dung. I tried to eat once after, and everything I ate smelled so overwhelmingly like shit, I nearly hurled. It severely spoils the appetite."

"Hmmm, I'm sure my mom would like to know that for the next time you come over for dinner," James laughed.

Sirius smiled guiltily in response.

* * *

Lily beat James down to the common room around 1:45, dressed in a cute green sweater layered over a sunny yellow tank top and a pair of snug bell-bottom jeans. She hated to admit it, but she definitely had on a bit more make-up than normal: darker brown hues to shadow her eyes, and a slightly thicker layer of mascara. She had thought about adding a layer of some sticky, pinkish lip gloss, but decided to settle just on tinted chapstick. She had kissed a boy once wearing that sticky lip stuff, and it had made for an awkwardly, erm, wet-ish experience. Not that she planned on kissing James today. Her stomach gave a nervous jolt. What if James did try to kiss her? She chuckled softly to herself. Honestly, she didn't think he had the guts.

"Whatcha laughing at?" James said, startling Lily from her daydream. Lily noticed his hair was still damp, and he smelled refreshingly like soap.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she replied, smiling. "Ready to go?"

"You bet," he responded.

And the two made their way down to the front doors of the castle. A few students eyed James as he passed, obviously with urges to follow him to Hogsmeade. But Lily, in return, eyed them warningly as she passed, and they all went back to their previous courses of business.

"Thank you," James muttered, as they exited out of the castle doors and saw a horseless carriage waiting for them. "You have no idea how excited I am to get away from this place."

"I bet," she laughed. James jumped in front of her, and opened up the carriage door.

"Er, thanks, James," she said, as she realized he was holding it for her.

"Course, Lils," he replied, closing the door behind her and walking to the other side to climb in. He took a seat across from her, and she smiled slightly as their legs brushed.

James was a jumble of emotions when his eyes met Lily's green ones. First, and foremost, he was ecstatic to be alone with Lily. But, of course, he also knew, they had some potentially serious conversations ahead of them, and he felt nervous as to where they could lead.

"You think Dumbledore knows?" Lily asked, glancing out her window back towards the giant castle.

"Knows what?" James replied.

"Er, about us," Lily smiled, biting her lip.

James shrugged. "Probably. I don't know how though."

"Too coincidental, isn't it?"

James nodded. "I'm not arguing though."

"Me neither," Lily replied.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"This is weird," Lily stated.

James's stomach tensed slightly. "What's weird?"

"Being alone with you," she replied. "It's just been a while, that's all."

"Oh, yeah. Not since, er, Remus, er…" James started.

"Yeah… Let's not talk about that," Lily laughed, turning red.

"Better Remus than Sirius though," James responded, half-smiling.

Lily nodded her head fervently. "Though who would have thought Remus would have devised a plan to torture us all so significantly?"

"You're telling me," James laughed. "Nice payback he's giving me for helping him, huh?"

Lily nodded, and then looked down at her hands.

"On that note, James, I know you're upset with me about how this whole situation has played out over the last few days," Lily started, glancing up at James apologetically.

Okay, she was jumping right into the serious talk, he realized. Now that he was sitting here alone with Lily, he wasn't upset at all. Needless-to-say, he was curious of what she had to say, so he looked at her in a reaffirming way, nonverbally requesting for her to continue.

"I presume you understand why I don't want our, er, situation to be public just yet, as frustrating as it is," she said.

"Er, no," James replied.

"Oh! Really? I thought it was obvious!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," James replied.

"So that's why I got that disgruntled glare from you in the common room yesterday," she laughed. "You had me so worried!"

"I had you worried?" James asked. "You've had me worried!"

They both smiled at each other. Lily tore her eyes away from his first, and bit her lip.

"I think you were going to explain why you don't want to publicly date me," James said.

She looked at him again, still biting her lip. How best to phrase this?

"Yes?" he helped.

"Okay, how about a hypothetical question," she proposed.

"Sounds good," he replied.

"Okay, well, we really haven't spent a ton of time together. I mean, really, we're still getting to know each other in a lot of ways. What if we started hanging out a lot, and you uncover some trait or quality or something about me, and it totally changes how you think about me?" Lily asked.

"I've known you for 7 years, Lily. That's not going to happen," James replied.

"But you don't know everything about me," Lily muttered.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" James replied.

Lily felt herself going red. She really didn't want to say what she was thinking out loud. Boys were sometimes so daft, and right now, she just really wished he could read her mind.

"You turning red will never scare me off," James laughed. "In fact, I find it really cute."

Lily blushed more furiously, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, James," she started. "I'm going to be blunt, and this is going to be awkward, but you've asked for it,"

"I'm all ears," he replied, smiling. Lily shifted uncomfortably.

"Have you ever been totally into a person, and then you kiss them, and in an instant, you are completely over them?" She asked this so fast James had trouble processing her words. Once he understood what she had asked, he chuckled.

"No," he replied. "But you obviously have."

Lily bit her lip again and looked at him guiltily.

"Who?"

"Wally Withers. He was a Ravenclaw, two years above us."

"That bad?"

"I thought a dementor was trying to suck out my soul."

James laughed again. "Wow."

Lily shuddered.

"Honestly though," she said, more seriously, "James, I've really liked being friends with you over the last few weeks. It's a nice change from what we used to have."

James looked at her thoughtfully. "I'll agree with you completely there."

"And I really don't want to screw that up," she continued. "We have practically all of our classes together, and we have Head student duties together. If we mess this up, it could make for a really uncomfortable year. And if the whole school watches us mess it up, well, I think then it would probably just amplify the discomfort exponentially."

James nodded. "I get it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and you're totally right. The school can't know until you're sure you want to date me," he replied.

"Until we're both sure we want to date each other," she corrected him.

James smiled at her and shook his head.

"What?" she asked. But the carriage stopped moving. They had arrived outside of Hogsmeade station.

James jumped out of the carriage first, and helped Lily down after him. But she still tripped on the last step and fell straight into his arms.

"Woops, sorry," she laughed, looking up into his eyes.

"No problem," James replied, still holding her close to him, their faces mere inches apart.

"Er, so shall we head to Honeydukes?" Lily said, somewhat breathlessly. James fed her his half-smile.

"Okay," he replied, and he let go of her.

Lily kicked herself mentally. She had set herself up for this by talking about kissing in the first place. Now kissing James was all she was going to think about all day.

They made their way silently to Honeydukes. It was a surprisingly warm day, compared to how frosty the area had been just a few days ago. Both James and Lily felt comforted as the sun touched their faces. James held the door open for Lily when they arrived at Honeydukes, and together they made their way to the back counter where an old man was behind the register.

"Hi," Lily said to the man. "We're from Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore arranged for us to pick up sweets for the Halloween feast."

The man had a jolly smile when he replied to her. "Why yes, of course! Dumbledore has already had me send the sweets up to the castle with Hagrid, but he did mention two students would stop by to pay for it."

"Oh," Lily replied. "Well, great. Here's the money he gave us." She put the two moneybags that the owls had had on their legs in front of the man. He dumped them out and counted up the coins. He flipped two galleons to James.

"Dumbledore told me to tell you both to treat yourselves to a drink. And he thanks you for helping him," the man winked.

James and Lily retreated from Honeydukes, surprised but pleased by Dumbledore's message.

"He totally didn't need us to drop this money off, you do realize," Lily said, smiling.

James nodded, "Funny man, Dumbledore. Though again, I say, I'm not complaining."

"Me neither," Lily replied.

"So, before we head to the three broomsticks, do you want to - er - maybe take a walk and enjoy the weather? I know a spot up the hill back there, with a great view back on town," James asked, attempting to sound casual.

"Sure," Lily replied. "Who knows when we'll get this sun again. Hopefully it will stick around for your quidditch match next week, though."

"Oh yeah," James replied. "Should be a rough match. Ravenclaw has been looking really good this year. They sure flattened Hufflepuff a few weeks ago. Did you go to the match?"

"Sure did," she said. "Kylie was semi-crushing on one of their beaters or something."

"Really? You mean she has eyes for someone other than Sirius?" he asked, surprised.

"Ha. I think it's more she's come to realize he has eyes for girls other than her," she replied.

James frowned slightly. "Sirius just needs to grow up, that's all. Which he'll do, eventually."

Lily nodded.

"Hopefully," he added, as an afterthought.

Lily laughed. They had reached the edge of town, where small cottages with slightly dishevelled gardens lined the street. When they reached the last house on the lane, James steered Lily right, and led her on a climb up a grassy slope. It was still damp from the previous week's chilly weather, but not too slippery under their sneakers.

"We'll only go half-way up," James said, panting slightly. "See that boulder there?"

Lily nodded. She could feel sweat glistening on her forehead, and desperately wanted to take off her sweater. But, all she had on was a simple tank top underneath. Would that seem too showy? Or was she being too conservative by caring? Oh, screw it, she was hot.

When they reached the rock, she pulled off her sweater and felt immediately refreshed. James smiled at her slightly, and removed his black jacket to reveal a plain gray t-shirt underneath. They sat down on the boulder, a fare few inches between them. The breeze was cool up here, and the view was wonderful. They could see all across town - to Honeydukes, and the Three Broomsticks, and Zonkos, and then back up to the hill opposite to the Shrieking Shack.

"This is awesome, James," Lily said. "How'd you ever find this place?"

"We've explored the whole area," James replied. "When you have a whole night in animal form, and four legs to carry you anywhere, it's amazing how much ground you can cover."

Lily nodded, understanding. Lily continued to stare out across town. She could feel James's eyes on her, and it was making her slightly uncomfortable. Oh God, she realized. He had brought her here to kiss her. How had she not realized it before?

"So what are you writing for Slughorn's essay?" Lily asked, desperate to start a conversation.

"Uh, not sure," James replied.

"I think I'm writing about bezoars. I know Slughorn said it should be on a powerful potion, and a bezoar isn't exactly a potion, but it counteracts all powerful potions, so maybe it'll work. It really has some amazing qualities, did you know? It can-"

"Lily," James interrupted.

"Y-yeah?" she replied.

"I know what a bezoar is," he said, smiling at her.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course," she replied. She glanced at him, planning to briefly make eye contact, but when their eyes met, she couldn't look away. He scooted next to her so that their sides were touching.

She bit her lip, still looking up at him. His hazel eyes bore into hers, making her heart feel like it was beating in her throat, and her stomach feel like it had fluttered out of her body. Strange feeling, really, she found herself thinking.

James reached up and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. He then pulled her face gently towards his own, until their foreheads were resting together.

"Would you mind if I kissed you?" he breathed.

Lily's throat felt so constricted by her pounding heart that she worried intensely whether her voice could even function. She gulped. That worked okay.

"James?" she whispered.

"Yes, Lily?" he replied.

"I think I'd like it better if I kissed you," she said.

And she didn't wait for his reply. She closed the tiny gap between their faces, her lips softly meeting his.

James felt as if he had lost all correct sense of feeling in his body other than in his lips. The tips of his fingers tingled as he rested them lightly just in the brink of her hair, and his heart pounded so fiercely he wouldn't have been surprised if she could feel it.

Far too soon, Lily pulled away, again biting her lip, and looking up at him, timidly.

"Dementor?" James asked.

"Kind of," she replied.

James felt his stomach drop in surprise.

"I just mean you made me forget to breathe," she laughed, and she pulled him back close to her and kissed him again.

**A/N:**** Ahhh. Attack of the fluff! On a serious note, please let me know your thoughts on this chapter - I think I'm hopeless at writing these kinds of scenes, but I want to try to get better. Hmm, that may be impossible… Lol. arrrrrr, help me! Please?**

**Btw**** - dementor story = true. Yeah, terrible experience, and the thought literally crossed my mind, "Could this really be a dementor disguised as a human trying to suck at my soul?" Eurghhhh…**

**Um, yeah, anyway - review please - seriously. :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: You people (CuteTpie and LilyWitchcraft) who had similar dementor stories truly cracked me up. I guess we need to work on our patronuses! Haha, anyway, thanks for the laughs! :D :D :D**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 12_

James and Lily stayed on that rock until the sun hung low in the sky. The breeze was chillier and the town was quieting down for the evening. Less people were milling from shop to shop. James was sitting with his arm around Lily, and she was resting her head on his shoulder.

"We probably should get going soon," she said, not making an effort to get up.

"Yeah, we should," James replied, not moving either. He pulled her slightly closer to him, and kissed her on the top of the head.

"I really don't want to go back," Lily sighed.

James didn't respond. Lily couldn't see his face, but her statement made him frown.

"You okay, James?" she asked, lifting her head off of his shoulder, curious of his silence.

"Er, yeah," he replied, averting his eyes away from her.

She looked at him quizzically, eyebrows raised.

"Okay, you still don't want to tell the school?" he asked.

"Oh, not really, honestly," she replied.

James nodded, though he really wasn't sure why. He definitely did not understand what she was thinking. Was she really still not sure that she wanted to date him?

"I just don't really want the attention of the whole school, you know. Teenagers can be ruthless, and they'll just be waiting for us to screw up. You think we should tell them?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just think it could bite us in the ass if we don't," he replied.

Lily laughed. "Listen, James, I'll do whatever you think is best. If you want, I'll march over to that school and tell Sirius. Within fifteen minutes, the rest of the student body will know."

"You will?" James replied.

Lily smiled. "Of course. James, I'm completely committed to you, and I trust your intuition here."

James smiled back at her. "Say that one more time?"

"Er, Okay. I trust your-"

"No, no. The other part," he said.

"Oh, um, I'm completely committed to you," Lily mumbled, blushing slightly.

James beamed. "I'll be right back," he said, and he stood up and walked around the boulder.

Lily saw him take out his wand, and within a few seconds, heard a high-pitched screeching from where he was now standing, but she couldn't see what he was doing. She debated in her head for a moment whether she should wait for James to come back or go investigate what he was doing, and naturally, her curiosity won the battle. She slipped off the boulder and tiptoed over to James. She had to stuff her hands over her ears as she got closer to him, the noise was now so loud.

"What are you doing?" she hollered, but he ignored her. He continued his work for another few minutes, and then backed away.

"Finished," he said, looking back at the boulder. Lily's jaw dropped slightly as she saw what he had done. He had carved into the boulder:

J + L

27-10-1977

"What did you deface the rock for?" Lily asked, surprised.

James smiled, sheepishly. "Well, I've been having trouble believing that today is actually happening, and I know tomorrow I definitely won't believe it, so this is proof, really, for myself."

Lily rolled her eyes, but laughed. She walked over next to him and he slid his arm around her.

"It looks good," she said. "I like it."

"Why, thank you," James replied, and he tilted her head up to his and kissed her.

After he pulled away he said, "So I've been thinking about Sirius."

"You kiss me and think about Sirius?" Lily asked. "That's special."

James laughed. "No, no, before I kissed you I thought about this. Haha. What I mean is, I've changed my mind about us going public. I don't think you should tell Sirius."

"Serious?" Lily asked.

"Er, yes, Sirius. You know, shaggy black hair, huge blabber mouth-"

"Er, no, I mean, 'seriously?'," she chuckled.

"Oh, ha," James laughed. "But yeah, I don't think the school needs to know about us."

"But aren't you afraid of - how did you put it? Oh yeah- getting 'bit in the ass'?" Lily asked.

"That won't happen - not if I can help it, at least. I don't own the marauder's map and an invisibility cloak for nothing. It'll be like the ultimate prank, keeping a secret like this," he smiled, mischievously

"Oh so now our relationship is a prank to you. Lovely," Lily laughed. "But I'll admit, it sounds fun."

"It's settled then," he replied.

"Well, we really should probably head back to town," Lily said. The sun was only a few inches above the mountains in the horizon.

"Still up for the three broomsticks?" James asked.

"Definitely," Lily replied.

Hand-in-hand, they walked down the hillside, James helping Lily as they went. As they walked through town, the last rays of sunlight were zigzagging across the sky, illuminating the clouds in purple and blue hues. James held the door open for Lily, and she walked inside. Madam Rosmerta smiled at them from behind the counter.

"I'll grab the drinks, you can grab a table," James said, and he went up to the counter. Lily found a table for two near the window. Within a few minutes, James came over with butterbeers, foam dribbling down the sides of the mugs.

"Cheers," James smiled.

"Cheers," she replied, and she took a big gulp. There was nothing more warming for the soul than a butterbeer.

"Is that Malfoy?" James asked, squinting out the window. Lily cupped her eyes to the window to reduce the glare. There was no mistaking his long blonde hair.

"Yeah. What would he be doing here? He graduated, what, four years ago?" she replied. "Wait, is that Severus, too?"

"Yeah, and Nott," James said.

"You don't think they're meeting Voldemort, do you? You know that conversation we heard a few days ago?" Lily asked, fear evident in her voice.

"I don't know." James took a big swig from his butterbeer. "Come on, let's follow them."

"What?" Lily gasped, as he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up from the table.

He led her out of the pub, keeping hold of her hand, and stealthily tiptoed to where he had seen Malfoy, Snape, and Nott disappear. He pulled Lily into a dark doorway, shielding them from view from passerby.

"Where do you think they went?" he asked.

"I thought they went that way," Lily said, pointing further down the road, towards a shabby looking doorway. "I don't know if this is a good idea though, James. What if Voldemort really is there?"

James look at her, realizing he had just responded naturally to the situation – seeing what mischief Slytherins were up to had been something him and Sirius had done regularly. But this was more than just Slytherins plotting plans of mayhem at the school. This was possibly serious dark wizardry.

The door Lily had pointed to suddenly opened, and out walked Snape, Nott, and Malfoy.

"Thank you again for coming," Malfoy said. "The Dark Lord is very pleased, and I look forward to working with both of you." He held out his hand and both Snape and Nott shook it.

Snape and Nott then turned and started walking towards where James and Lily were hiding in the shadows.

"That seriously hurt," Nott said to Snape, rubbing his mid-forearm.

Snape didn't respond. Lily felt herself hold her breath as the two walked by where she and James were hiding. They continued walking down the street, stopping outside Zonko's.

"You go ahead," Snape said to Nott. "I'll meet up with you."

"But where are you going?" Nott asked.

"That's not your business," Snape replied.

"Whatever," Nott muttered, and he rounded the corner just past Zonko's. Snape stood still for a few moments.

"Don't tell me they know that passageway," James mumbled. Curious about what James was referring to, Lily wanted to respond, but didn't. Snape had now turned back around and was walking towards them. He whipped out his wand so fast, that Lily had little idea of what was happening until James fell over, stiff as a board.

"Taste of your own medicine, Potter," Snape spat.

"What are you doing?!" Lily exclaimed, diving down to James and pulling out her own wand.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Expelliarmus," he muttered, and Lily's wand flew out of her hand and into his. She turned and looked at him, rage blazing in her eyes.

"You unfreeze him right this instant," she demanded.

"So you're with him now, are you?" Snape asked.

"Dumbledore asked us to do a favor for him," Lily responded, grinding her teeth.

"I saw you in the Three Broomsticks. You looked pretty cozy," he replied.

Lily folded her arms in front of her. "What's it to you anyway?"

Snape inhaled deeply. Lily wasn't denying that she was with James. Snape knew that this meant that she was. He felt the floor fall from beneath him. He had been watching James and Lily's relationship develop over the year, and he couldn't believe his worst fear was actually coming true. Lily had picked James. James. He felt his insides bubble with fury. Lily had picked James. He looked down at the body-bound dark-haired individual. The person he hated most in the world had beat him for the heart of the person he loved most in the world.

Snape looked back at Lily. She looked gorgeous when she was passionate and angry. But she would never want him like he wanted her. He now realized this.

He had made the right choice tonight, joining Voldemort. He sure as hell didn't need to do what Lily thought was best. In fact, he'd never listen to a word of her advice again.

"I don't need you," he said.

"I know. You've got much bigger friends now, don't you?" she replied.

Snape just shrugged, and tossed her back her wand.

"We're done," he said, and he turned to walk away.

"Wait," Lily said, taking a few steps toward him. She put a hand on his arm. He froze, but did not turn around.

"Severus, don't do this. Don't join him," she breathed, still touching his arm.

"I already have," he replied. He still hadn't turned around.

"Well, then please be careful," she whispered, and she let go of him.

He stood there for a moment, his back still to her. She saw him twitch, like he was going to turn around, but instead he began walking towards Zonko's. He never looked back.

Lily felt a tear trickling down her cheek as she watched him round the corner. It appeared she had truly lost her oldest friend. They had been growing apart for so long, but this, this was it. The boy who had been her childhood playmate, who had introduced her to magic, who had stuck up for her, who had been her first real friend, he was leaving her for good. He was choosing Voldemort. She wiped the tear away, and turned back to James. Realizing he was still frozen, she quickly rushed over to him and undid his body-bind curse.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, helping him to his feet.

"Yes," James grumbled. "I hate him."

"I know," Lily said.

"I don't know how you can be friends with that creep," he vented.

"Well, I don't think we're friends anymore," she replied. She couldn't hide the sadness in her voice.

James looked at her, and saw that she was vividly upset. As much as he hated Snape, he knew Lily knew Snape in a way that he never could.

"Come here," he said. And he pulled her into a tight hug. He hugged her for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he whispered into her ear.

"It's okay," she mumbled back.

"Can I take fifty points from Slytherin? He wasn't supposed to be here, you know."

Lily laughed. "Please do."

She pulled away from him and looked at him earnestly. "Thank you, James. For everything today."

"What are secret boyfriends for?" he replied.

She smiled broadly. "I sure like the sound of that."

"Me too," he smiled back. "We ready to go?"

"Yeah," she replied. She glanced quickly at the corner where Snape had disappeared. He was definitely gone. James held out his hand for her. She smiled and took it, and together they walked towards the carriages that would take them back to Hogwarts.

***********

**A/N: Sorry! Shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Poor Snape! **

**So you know, the end is in sight. :) ****YAY. I can't believe I may actually finish a story!! Correction – WILL actually finish a story. Any input on what you want to happen? I have a general idea where it will go – kinda. **

**And does anyone know how the beta thing works, too? I'm interested in finding one, but don't know how to do it.**

**Heads up – It'll take me longer to get the next chapter out. I have a ridiculously busy week approaching, and I've gotten weirdly obsessed with editing my other story 'The Rivalry,' so I have a feeling my little free time will be spent working there. Apologies, but I will pick this back up the following week for sure.**

**Oh, and sorry for the Sirius/Serious banter in this chapter. I hate when I read them, but I can't resist writing them. Hypocritical, I know. **

**Of course, REVIEW PUH-LEASE. Happy Superbowl Sunday! (Go Saints!) **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: And this story is back! Sorry for the delay - got totally murdered by a long list of things to do. Anyway, I think this story will be 15 chapters total – with an epilogue, so I hope you enjoy the end of it! Almost there! This chapter is really choppy because there are a bunch of small story lines going on, but everything comes together. I really had no idea where it was going until it was all written – usually I plan stuff out, but I dunno, I kinda hit writer's block I guess! And warning, Snape swears vulgarly (my first time ever REALLY swearing in a story – sometimes I use mild swear words, but nothing too bad imho), but I hope it doesn't offend! Love to my reviewers – ya'll are the best. Additionally, if you have read the story so far, and haven't yet reviewed, I would really appreciate your feedback.**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 13_

The day after James and Lily went to Hogsmeade, James returned to their spot on the mountain and stared at the carving of his and her initials. He ran his fingers over the indentation and he pinched himself twice. Yep, he wasn't dreaming. The date he had carved read yesterday, and one initial was his and the other was hers. It was really happening. Lily was actually into him. He smiled hugely, thinking about how amazing it felt to kiss her. It was possibly the best feeling in the world, and without question, worth the all the years he had waited for her.

James threw his invisibility cloak back on and descended down the mountain. The reason James had really come to Hogsmeade was to try to determine if the Slytherins were using one of the secret passageways to meet with Voldemort. He desperately hoped that Snape and Nott hadn't gone to use this passageway when he had seen them the night before, as he hadn't seen them actually enter the passageway with his own eyes, but his gut told him otherwise.

With the invisibility cloak still on, he walked through town, avoiding any muddy patches of ground where he could leave footprints. He proceeded to behind Zonko's, and even though he was invisible, stealthily tiptoed toward the storm drain. He looked around. He was definitely alone. He looked intently around for any sign of a clue that someone had been there the night before.

There were no footprints, or articles of clothing, or obvious giveaways immediately around the storm drain. He opened the lid and looked inside, and couldn't see anything unusual there either. He lowered himself into the drain, still invisible, and began to look around inside.

"Lumos," he muttered, so he could see better. The passageway looked entirely normal. It was dirty, dark, dingy, and just as any passageway should be. He looked for footprints, discarded candy wrappers; anything out of the ordinary. He descended further into the passageway, straining his ears for the sound of anyone or anything. Nothing.

He was about to turn back when he noticed a peculiar indentation in the wall. It looked almost like someone had punched the wall with all of their might. And yes, there were a few dried blood droplets on the floor.

James felt his stomach drop slightly. Someone had definitely been in here recently. And he suspected whoever it was would still have a rather damaged hand. Well, that was at least a place to start; find the Slytherins and see if any of their hands looked mangled.

James proceeded through the passageway, slightly more nervous now that he was sure that someone had used it lately. He felt lucky though. Whoever had used it did not return while he was inside.

He pulled out the Marauder's Map and looked at the third floor corridor into which he was about to enter. It was empty, so he pushed open the mirror and slid out from behind it. He jumped into a nearby classroom and took off his invisibility cloak and stuffed it into his pocket. He emerged from the classroom and ran smack dab into someone.

"Sorry, er, Snape," James said, as he realized who he had just run into.

Snape didn't respond. At first he looked at James in surprise, and then he scowled intensely, grinding his teeth. He pushed past James and began to carry on his way down the corridor.

Suddenly, James remembered his mission: figure out if any Slytherins had injured hands.

"Hey Snape!" he called, running to catch up to him.

Snape swiveled on the spot and whipped out his wand. His wand hand appeared unscathed. His other hand was hidden within the sleeve of his robes.

James threw up his hands, showing that he was not pulling out his wand himself. "Woah, I just had a question for you."

"Don't," Snape growled, rage burning behind his eyes.

"Don't what?" James asked.

"Don't talk to me," Snape snapped.

James racked his brain for what he could possibly do to force Snape to show him his hand. He desperately searched for something to keep Snape at least involved in the conversation. "But, Potions. That essay," James started.

Snape narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Potions, Potter? You are asking me about potions?" He looked like he was going to laugh in James's face.

"Er, no," James responded. He jammed his hand into his pocket, searching for some sort of inspiration as to what to say or do. He felt his invisibility cloak and also a silver sickle: the change left over from his butterbeer purchases the night before.

He pulled out the sickle, and flipped it to Snape. Since Snape's one hand was already on his wand, he pulled out his other hand to catch the coin. Success.

"I think you dropped that last night," James said.

Snape winced slightly as he caught the coin, and James noticed intense bruising and scabbing over his knuckles. James felt triumphant but also disappointed with his discovery. He had just confirmed that Snape had been in the passageway.

"Fuck off, Potter," Snape spat, and he lobbed the coin back at James and turned to walk away.

James shrugged, and let Snape carry on down the corridor.

********

Back in the common room, Sirius, Kylie and Peter were playing exploding snap by the fire, and Britta, Remus, and Lily had their books and belongings spread out across one of the tables. James walked over to the group playing exploding snap, and nudged Sirius.

"I need to talk to you," James said.

"Ohhhh yeah? You've been gone a while there, Prongsy-wongsy! Ready to fess up about your lovely lady, are you?" Sirius replied mockingly.

Lily kept her head down, but she was definitely listening. She noticed she was also smiling now that James had entered the room, and Britta was looking at her peculiarly.

"Er, no. Can we go upstairs? Peter? Remus? Can you guys come, too?" James asked.

The girls all looked up at this statement, all curious of the same thing. What was James hiding that he couldn't tell them? James eyes momentarily met Lily's, and she felt her breathe catch in her chest. She almost laughed when he looked away. Honestly, when would these butterflies and breathless moments stop?

The boys left, and the card castle tower exploded as their dormitory door slammed.

"Well, that was intriguing, but I guess it's time I started this essay anyway," Kylie said.

********

"So what's up, James?" Remus asked, as he shut the dormitory door behind him.

"The Slytherins know about the passageway behind the mirror," James stated. "They've used it to meet Voldemort."

Peter let out what sounded like a small squeal when James said Voldemort's name.

"What?" gasped Remus. "How do you know?"

"Lily and I saw the Slytherins in Hogsmeade yesterday. They met Lucius Malfoy there, and we also suspect Voldemort, though we didn't see him. I think we need to block it off."

Sirius shook his head. "Wait just a minute, James. Those passageways are secret successes for future students like you and me. Do you remember how insanely we celebrated when we discovered that passageway in our third year?"

"Of course, Sirius. But listen to me. They are using it to leave the school to meet Voldemort. What if Voldemort turns around and uses it to get _into_ the school?"

"But how do you know they were using it?" Sirius argued.

"Lily and I saw Nott and Snape head behind Zonko's when we were in Hogsmeade yesterday, and I investigated the passageway today and saw that someone had blatantly punched the tunnel wall, and later, I spotted Snape, and his hand looked like it had been through a blender," James replied.

Remus and Peter looked convinced, but Sirius did not.

"Why would Snape have punched a wall?" he asked.

James shrugged. "He and Lily had a sort of falling out. I dunno, I didn't hear the whole thing."

Sirius frowned. "I really don't want to block it off. We'd be destroying opportunities for future mischievousness."

"Sirius, don't you hear, James? That passageway isn't just serving pranksters any longer. Plus, there still will be the Honeydukes route," Remus interjected.

Sirius sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. Well, if we cave it in, we have to do it with a bang."

"Duh," James replied. "How about on Halloween?"

"I'm sensing an explosion of unparalled proportions," Sirius grinned.

********

On Monday, two days before Halloween, James slipped Lily a note during charms. The title of it read, 'Re: Halloween Duties,' but the inside had nothing to do with dancing skeletons, reservations of bats, or enlarged pumpkins.

_8 pm - Where Peeves cornered us and you taught me a slimy new spell. _

Lily smiled and instantly wiped the note blank. A broom cupboard, James? How romantic. But she was eager to see him exclusively, none-the-less.

*******

At 8pm, Lily was sitting next to a mop in the broom cupboard, feeling rather stupid. Couldn't they have found an abandoned classroom? Something a little roomier and not so cliché? She lit her wand and began reading from her transfiguration book, waiting for James to arrive. Within a few minutes, the door opened, though no one was visible.

James whipped off his invisibility cloak as he shut the door behind him, smiling brightly. He muttered, "Muffliato," putting the sound bubble around him and Lily.

"Hi," he said, helping her to her feet.

"Nice location choice, James," Lily laughed. "So romantic, really."

James now smiled sheepishly, but pulled her so her body was up against his.

"I couldn't help it," he said, looking into her eyes. "I wanted you so badly when we were stuck in here before."

Lily giggled. "I could tell."

Still smiling, James closed the gap between their faces and kissed her softly. She responded positively, and their kissing became more heated and passionate.

After a half hour and very little talking, James pulled away.

"Still object to the broom cupboard?" he asked.

Lily laughed. "No, I suppose not."

*****

On Tuesday, James and Lily did not meet each other privately. James was far too busy planning with Sirius, Peter, and Remus exactly how they were going to cave in the tunnel without the entire school hearing or feeling such an explosion. They had a mound of one-hundred-and-eighty-seven Dr. Filibuster's Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks that the boys assumed would do the damage needed within the passageway. And James had figured out a tricky charm to send a tidal wave down the passageway to activate the fireworks. They planned to set off the fireworks during dinner, when students were already distracted by the troop of dancing skeletons, the live bats, and the scrumptious feast. Sirius wasn't exactly thrilled to miss the best feast of the year, but the lure of a secret giant explosion compensated justly.

The marauders also had forty-seven dungbombs that they planned to let off in the hallways around the third floor mirror to deter any non-Halloween-feasters from wandering near the passageway. And they finally had put some fireworks in the giant pumpkins so that they would explode loudly sporadically throughout dinner – hopefully blending with any noise the explosion in the passageway might make.

What they hadn't anticipated, though, was that Snape and Nott also had realized that most students would be distracted during the Halloween feast. And they were planning to bring Malfoy and MacNair to the Slytherin common room to recruit and educate the younger students about Lord Voldemort.

*****

At 6 o'clock on Halloween (dinner was set to begin at 7), James and Sirius were just putting the finishing touches on their pile of fireworks halfway down the tunnel. Remus and Peter were planting dungbombs with fifty-minute countdown timers around the corridors, and the fireworks had already been planted in the giant pumpkins earlier in the day.

Remus wandered back towards the mirror, waiting for Peter to return from down the opposite hallway. A few minutes ticked by, and Remus grew slightly concerned as to why Peter was taking so long.

"Wormtail?" Remus called. No response. Remus took his wand out and began walking down the corridor.

"Stupefy!" he heard someone yell, and then he knew no more.

*****

Down in the passageway, James and Sirius had just finished building level upon level of fireworks.

"Sure wish we could be in this passageway when it explodes," James said. "I bet it'll be insane."

Sirius nodded. "Why is it fire and explosions are so freaking awesome?"

"Hey," said James, glancing down at his watch. "Where are Remus and Peter? They should be here by now." Remus and Peter were supposed to meet them in the passageway ten minutes ago.

"We better go check on them, I guess. My bet is Peter set the dumgbombs to go off in five minutes rather than fifty, and passed out from all the fumes," Sirius replied.

The two boys started to walk down the rugged passageway back towards the castle. They had walked about ten minutes, and were probably another 200 meters from Hogwarts when they heard footsteps ahead of them.

"Well, there you guys are-" Sirius started, but stopped dead. Snape and Nott were sauntering towards them down the corridor.

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite people," Snape sneered, his eyes darting between the two Gryffindors menacingly. His eyes were full of loathing, and it really was impossible to tell who, between James and Sirius, he hated more. Nott hovered behind him, his wand ready. "Really is fancy meeting you here."

Snape then started pacing slightly back and forth between the passageway walls.

"What are you guys doing here?" James asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Potter?" Snape replied. "Brave, courageous, _perfect_ Potter always sticking his nose in other people's business."

James actually felt kind of nervous. Snape and him had always had their rivalry, their arguments, their battles, but Snape's air was nothing short of hostile.

"I should have guessed I'd meet you two down here. I mean, who else would be smart enough to discover this passageway, but also stupid enough to leave it open at the end of last year?" Snape continued when James did not respond.

Sirius's face grew sourer at this comment. He and Kylie had left it open after they had had far too many firewhiskies just before the end of term. "At least I'm not dumb enough to break my hand punching a wall over a _girl. _What, does little Lily not love you back?" Sirius shot back in an obnoxiously baby-like tone.

A vein actually began to pulse in Snape's temple, and his eyes narrowed even more intensely. "Well, this looks fair, doesn't it? Two Slytherins. Two Gryffindors. How about it Black and Potter?" Snape finally stuttered through his rage. Nott walked up next to Snape and further raised his wand, supporting Snape's challenge.

Neither James nor Sirius responded. James chanced a glance at Sirius, who nodded his head just slightly. He must have been thinking what James was thinking. They were probably far enough down the passageway that the cave-in wouldn't hit them, and with Snape and Nott now being in the passageway, and wanting to duel, they needed to destroy the passageway as soon as possible. The four boys stared at each other for a few moments, no one daring to make the first move.

"Scared, Potter?" Snape mocked.

James ignored his question. He looked again at Sirius. "Now!" he yelled.

Sirius bellowed, "Protego!" as James whipped around, turning his back to Snape and Nott, and brandished his wand down the hallway.

"Aguamentidas!" he yelled.

A tidal wave erupted from the end of his wand and tore down the passageway. James had to throw his other hand onto his wand to keep the spell pointed in the correct direction. A few seconds ticked by, and James hoped the force of the spell was strong enough to carry it all the way to where the firecrackers were stationed.

WHAM! James was hit by some sort of curse and he fell face-forward from the force of the impact, feeling as if he had been hoofed in the back by a Hippogriff. The wind was completely knocked out of him. With all his might, he pushed his head up, and he saw Sirius still on his feet, again casting a shield charm.

"Sorry!" he heard Sirius yell.

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, and then an explosion that nearly broke James's eardrums ruptured down the passageway.

"Run!" Sirius now yelled, but James couldn't get on his feet. Though Snape and Nott didn't need telling twice; they tore back towards the castle, already invisible from sight.

"Come on, James!" Sirius yelled, pulling at his friend. The ground was rattling harder and faster under their feet.

Dust was now pouring down the passageway, so thick neither of the boys could see. Coughing and stuttering, Sirius hoisted James to his feet and began guiding him blindly as quickly as he could down the hallway. And just as suddenly, the rumbling stopped. The dust was still incredibly thick, but James could finally find his own footing. Within thirty seconds, they reached the mirror, and they fell into the Hogwarts hallway, slamming the mirror shut behind them. They lay on the floor for a few minutes, both reveling in the clean air of the castle. Snape and Nott were nowhere to be seen.

"Well," Sirius finally said. "We didn't exactly see the explosion, but, I must admit, that was close enough."

And then he started laughing, and James joined in. James looked at Sirius and laughed even harder.

"You look -haha- a royal mess," he managed to get out.

"Right back at -ha- you," Sirius snorted.

Remus then walked down the passageway, followed by Peter, and spotted the two boys on the floor.

"What the bloody hell happened?!" Remus exclaimed, taking in the two boy's appearances. Their hair was standing vividly on end, and they were both covered in such layers of whitish-gray soot that they looked more like statues than human beings.

"Passage is blocked," Sirius chuckled. "And what happened to you?"

"Peter and I were both stunned. Neither of us know how or by who," he replied, disgruntled.

"We do," James said. "Snape and Nott. They joined us in the passageway - the reason why we had to activate the fireworks a little earlier than planned. You didn't hear it?"

"Nope. Not at all," Peter said.

"Wow, this all turned out better than planned. We can still go to the feast!" Sirius said, happily.

"Yeah, and we can avoid those 47 dungbombs that are set to go off. This hallway is going to reek for at least a week," James chuckled.

"Eurgh, yeah, let's get out of here," Remus replied. And the four boys walked back to the Gryffindor common room, James and Sirius attracting stares as they went.

When the boys emerged through the portrait hole, the entire common room went quiet, taking in the appearance of the disheveled group.

"So, do you all think we need to hit the showers?" Sirius asked the crowd.

No one responded, but James, Peter and Remus snickered. James and Sirius then made their way upstairs, and Remus and Peter walked over to Lily, Kylie and Britta, who all had worried and confused expressions on their faces.

"Do we want to know what happened?" Lily asked.

"Definitely not," Remus replied, and Peter snickered again. The two boys then sat down with the three girls, and talked about the upcoming Halloween feast. About twenty minutes later, with ten minutes until the feast was set to start, James and Sirius made their way down the boys' staircase.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be scrubbing that dust off of me for the next week," James said. His hair was wet and his eyes still glinted with excitement. Lily caught his eye for a moment and he grinned.

"Definitely crevices that will never get clean," Sirius replied.

All three girls made faces at this, while Remus and Peter laughed. The students then all went through the portrait hole and headed to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall looked absolutely magnificent. In addition to the millions of floating candles, hundreds of bats fluttered every which direction, and live skeletons (however that worked), were lined up all around the walls, almost like soldiers. A giant pumpkin was sitting dominantly in each corner of the room, and candelabras were scattered up and down the tables, casting glittering illusions on the goblets. The 7th years sat down at the Gryffindor table, the girls across from the boys, and dove into the food as soon as it appeared.

After a full serving, Kylie broke the silence.

"So really, what did happen to you guys? What was that all over you?" she asked, looking at Sirius and then at James.

"That was the aftermath of the marauder's biggest bang," Sirius replied through a mouthful of food. "And don't look so worried, Lily. You won't find anything wrong inside the castle."

Lily opened her mouth to respond -

BANG!

Students over at one end of the Slytherin table screeched in disgust as shards of pumpkin guts flew all over them.

"Woops," James muttered.

"Forgot about those, didn't we," Sirius snickered.

"Lucky we took a seat in the center of the table," Remus replied.

BANG!

Another pumpkin exploded, this time spraying mostly the Ravenclaws, but also part of the Gryffindor table. All of the students' initial reactions were of extreme disgust. But as the seconds ticked by, smiles crept over most of their faces. One second year pulled a pile of pumpkin goop off of the top of his head, and flung it on to the blonde girl sitting next to him. She squealed, then scooped some off the table, and threw it square back in his face.

"Oh no," Lily said under her breath.

More students began picking up the pumpkin guts, and tossing it at each other, giggling.

Lily looked up at Dumbledore, who was just sitting up at the high table, twiddling his thumbs, his eyes twinkling like the goblets. The other teachers were also looking up to Dumbledore, waiting for his command. He didn't do anything.

BANG!

The third pumpkin exploded, and this time the students near it squealed with glee rather than disgust. They immediately started picking up the guts and throwing them at each other, sort of like a food fight. Before long, pandemonium was ensuing. Pumpkin guts were flying everywhere, and no section of any table was safe.

"James, we have to do something," Lily said, ducking under the table. The rest of the gang followed suit, taking cover.

James, now under the table too, raised his eyebrows at her. "Like what?" He had a boyish grin plastered on his face.

"We're Head Boy and Girl. It's our duty to keep order," she snapped.

James laughed at her. "Honestly, Lils. Lighten up! Look around. Everyone is having a blast! Haha, literally!"

Lily looked him in the eye, and tried to keep a serious face. But the sheer joy he was exuding at having concocted such a stupid but successful prank couldn't keep her from grinning at him in return.

"Okay," she conceded. "I'll lighten up." And she grabbed some pumpkin guts that had accumulated on the floor behind her and plopped them on his head.

"You didn't-" James gasped, laughing, and wiping pumpkin from his eyes.

"Oh, I did," she replied sweetly. "And there's more where that came from." She grabbed more pumpkin and was about to try to put it down his robes, but he was too fast for her this time. He grabbed her hands, and took the pumpkin she had been holding, and plopped it on her head.

"Eww! This is disgusting!" she squealed, trying to shake the pumpkin out of her hair, but she was laughing, too.

Neither James nor Lily noticed that Sirius, Peter, and Kylie were staring at them with their jaws dropped. Remus and Britta, on the other hand, were looking at them triumphantly.

"That orange complements your hair quite nicely," James grinned at her, to which she rolled her eyes. She went to grab more pumpkin, but he caught her hands again and pulled her towards him. Without thinking, he kissed her, to which she obviously responded.

"Woops," James said, when he pulled away.

"What?" Lily asked. And James looked over, and Lily followed his eyes. Sirius, Peter and Kylie were all still crouched under the table, their mouths practically hitting the floor. Then Remus started clapping, and Britta joined in.

**A/N: Yep, that's where I'll stop it! 8 pages, not bad. I seriously had no clue where this chapter was going… odd when that happens, really. It's like randomness takes over, but somehow comes together. I dunno… that's my bizarre analysis of writing that doesn't make any sense. Ha. Yep, well, pretty pretty pretty please review! They make me smile really big. :D Again, so much love to my reviewers – can't tell you how much it means to me! And if you have read the story so far, and haven't yet reviewed, please let me know what you've thought of it. It's coming to a close and I really want to make my next story better!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Honestly - This is insane. I had a secret goal to at least tie the number of people's 'Favorite Story' list my super old story, The Rivalry of James and Lily, is on with this story. And last chapter did it! So thank you so much readers! Now, if only all of you would review, too. ;)**

**So, as I promised, this is the first story that I'm actually finishing, and for real, I'm like, 'Wow, that's the end!' Translated, that means I lied last chapter - no, there will not be 15 chapters. This is it! The end! I hope you've liked it. :) Goodbye from James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Kylie, Britta, and Snape! They really enjoyed meeting you! **

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Chapter 14_

"Um. Hi?" Lily said, breaking the thick silence underneath the table.

"You- but- Remus said- WHAT?!" Sirius stuttered.

James smiled sheepishly at his friend. "Remus lied."

Sirius turned around and looked at Remus, who was still grinning gleefully. "Well, the secret's out."

"And it was sooooo obvious," Britta interjected. "Can't believe you three didn't notice it before."

"But I thought Lily hated him!" Kylie exclaimed.

"I did," Lily replied.

"Obviously not any longer," Sirius mused. He crawled over to James and patted him on his back. "Well, give me some details. Is she worth the four years you've been in love with her?"

"Way to be awkward, Padfoot," James replied, rolling his eyes, and pushing Sirius away with his shoulder.

"Awww come on! No kissy kissy smoochy smoochy details? I could tell from that snog earlier that definitely wasn't the first time," he winked.

"I'm very sorry for him," James said to Lily, ignoring Sirius completely who was now making kissy faces and smoochy noises.

Lily laughed, picked up some pumpkin, and rubbed it into Sirius's hair.

"Hey!" Sirius yelped. "No fair!"

"Come off it, Padfoot. You so deserved that," James laughed.

"Oh yeah? I deserved that? Hrm, maybe, but you've opened up a can of pixies now!" Sirius replied. And he started scooping up a dangerous amount of pumpkin guts.

"Ehem," boomed a magnified voice. "Students of Hogwarts."

Lily, James, Britta, Peter, Remus, and Kylie poked their heads out from under the table. Dumbledore was standing up in front of the high table, trying to get the students' attention.

Lily suddenly felt something cold, slimy, and gooey slide down the back of her neck and into her robes.

"Eww!" she squealed. And almost as instantly, James, Britta, Peter, Remus, and Kylie were squealing or squirming, too.

"Please take your seats," the headmaster said, as Lily looked behind herself to find the obvious culprit. Sirius was snickering triumphantly.

The pumpkin guts slid slowly down her back, making her wriggle uncomfortably as she tried to take her seat. Sirius sat across from her, beaming.

"And _that's_ a can of pixies," he mouthed to the whole group, nodding his head gleefully.

"Ridiculous, Sirius," Kylie muttered, doing a sort of shimmy in her seat, trying to get the goo out from behind her shoulder blades.

Sirius looked at her, then looked at James and Lily, who were both now squirming, laughing, and holding hands across the table, then looked back at Kylie.

"You love it," he said.

"Ha," she replied, still squirming and now rolling her eyes.

"You don't love it?" he asked.

Kylie looked at him. What was he getting at? "Ummmm."

"If you all don't mind," Dumbledore's voice commanded, "I'm going to clear away the mess that has been made so that we can dive into pudding and the wonderful store in show for us." He motioned to the skeletons lined up around the hall. A few were now quite orange. And with a flick of his wand, the pumpkin disappeared.

Sirius kept his eyes on Kylie, and she kept her eyes on him, but neither said anything. Kylie had no clue what Sirius was playing at or what he could be thinking. As there was no longer any goo behind her shoulder blades, Kylie should have been able to sit still, but she again squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

*****

The news that Lily was James's girlfriend came as a shock to everyone, though the news was not taken as dramatically as the couple had imagined. Many students watched them with intrigue when they walked together down the hall, and some even said such things as, "About time," or "What a surprise," when they passed by. All in all, going public was having a perfectly acceptable impact on their relationship. In fact, being able to interact in public, and show that they actually liked each other, was probably benefiting their relationship far more than Lily had anticipated.

A full month passed so quickly neither James nor Lily could believe it was already the first week of December. It was a Saturday, and a thick layer of snow was gleaming outside in the dawn light and a toasty fire was crackling invitingly in the common room. James sat on one of the squishy couches with his arm around her, while she had her legs draped across his lap. It was early, barely 7 am, but James and Lily had developed a habit of waking up early before the rest of the students to get some quiet alone time together.

"Sick of me yet?" James asked jokingly, as he played with her fingers in his own.

Lily shrugged. "Not quite. I think I can tolerate, oh, maybe another week with you."

"Just a week?" James asked.

"Okay, maybe two," she replied.

"You know, you don't make it very obvious when you're being sarcastic. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you are being serious," James said.

"Who said I'm being sarcastic?" Lily replied.

"Aren't you?" James asked.

"Okay, yes," Lily conceded, smiling.

"Good," James replied, and he leaned forward and kissed her.

When he pulled away, she looked at him thoughtfully. "I like you, James. A lot. The only way this relationship is ending is if you want out."

"I definitely don't want out," James smiled. "I won't ever want out."

"Ever? That's an awfully big commitment after just a month of dating," she laughed.

"You'll agree to it one day, too," he replied slyly.

"Oh really, James Potter? And what makes you so sure?"

"You like me. A lot," he laughed.

"Well said," she laughed back.

He kissed her again, and then she laid her head on his shoulder. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "I definitely don't want to live without you, James."

James smiled and stroked her hair. "And I refuse to live without you," he said. "Let's die on the same day, okay?"

Lily lifted her head and laughed at him. "That's morbid. But yes, okay, deal." And she held out her hand and he shook it.

"And what are the two love birds up to so early this morning?" Sirius called as he pranced down the stairs. James and Lily both looked up at him, and James raised his eyebrows.

"And what are you doing with so much energy so early on a Saturday morning?" James asked in reply.

"My first Saturday without a detention! I woke up and my body just screamed, 'Freedom!'" He threw his arms up in jubilation and Lily laughed at his antics.

Sirius had a playful smile on his face. "So what are your plans for the day? Hogsmeade? Snow fight? Pranking? Eating?"

"I don't think we'd thought that far ahead," Lily said, glancing at James for his opinion. He shrugged in response. And then they both looked up at Sirius.

Sirius frowned at his two friends, cuddling so close and happily on the couch.

"I want that," Sirius said, suddenly.

"Want what?" James asked, confused.

Sirius ignored his question. "Lily, will you go get Kylie for me?"

Lily looked up at him startled. "Er, okay," she replied. And she got up and walked up the girls' staircase. Sirius remained standing and began to pace around the common room floor.

"What's up, Padfoot?" James asked.

Sirius ran his fingers through his hair. "Identity crisis," he replied.

******

Lily walked over to Kylie's bed and shook her gently.

"Kylie," she whispered. The blonde head slept on.

"Kylie!" Lily said a little louder.

Kylie's blue eyes fluttered open. "Lily?" she asked groggily. "Wassamatter?"

"Sirius wants to talk to you," Lily said.

Kylie sat up alert. "What do you mean he wants to talk to me?"

Lily shrugged, and began walking towards her bed to take a seat. "Got me. But if I were you, I'd brush my teeth."

"What?" Kylie asked confused, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and walking to the bathroom.

"Well, it means either one of two things. One being, your breath smells, or two being, I think he might kiss you."

"What!?" Kylie yelped.

Lily laughed. "Kidding. He just asked if I would come get you. He didn't give me any hints what about. But he's definitely had his eye on you lately, if you haven't noticed."

"Oh I've noticed," Kylie replied, though with difficulty as she now had her toothbrush in her mouth. And then she began frantically brushing her teeth. She disappeared for a moment, and emerged from the bathroom looking flustered. "What do I wear?"

"Way ahead of you," Lily said, and she threw a pair of jeans and a sky-blue sweater on Kylie's bed.

"Thanks," Kylie said appreciatively.

Within a few minutes, both girls were walking downstairs. James was still sitting on the couch, but Sirius had disappeared.

"Where's Sirius?" Lily asked, her eyes glancing around the room. There were still no other students awake.

"He went upstairs. Said he had to get something," James replied. Lily walked over to James and sat down beside him. Kylie stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs for a moment, then followed Lily and sat down opposite her and James in one of the scarlet armchairs.

"Do you know what he wants?" Kylie asked James.

James shrugged. "_That_, apparently."

"What's that?"

"Got me," he said.

"You're helpful," Kylie replied.

"See, with her I can tell when she's being sarcastic," James then said to Lily.

"I'll take note," Lily replied.

"Good," James nodded. "Wait a minute - you're being sarcastic again, aren't you?"

Lily laughed.

Kylie shook her head at James and Lily's stupid conversation, but was happy for them nonetheless that they seemed so contented. She was also practically dying of curiosity as to why Sirius needed to talk so bloody early on a Saturday morning.

The boys' dormitory door opened and Sirius shuffled out clutching what looked like a picture in his left hand. He bounced down the stairs with the same enthusiasm he had had when he had first woken up, and when he spotted Kylie, his face split into a large grin.

"Morning!" he said, cheerfully, walking over to her.

"Morning," she replied, though not without a hint of hesitation in her voice. Sirius threw the picture into Kylie's lap.

"What's this?" she asked, but when she looked down she couldn't suppress a giggle. She tossed the picture over to Lily, who barked with laughter, before handing it off to James, who turned beet red.

"Sirius, I'm going to kill you," James muttered, shaking his head. It was a picture of James from the end of last term. He was in his dormitory, and he had chess pieces climbing all over his body, an expression of immense pain evident in his eyes and an expression of irritation etched on his face obviously towards whoever was snapping the photo. "You said there was no bloody film in that camera."

"I lied," Sirius replied, beaming.

"Too much of that going on these days," James grumbled. "What in Merlin's name did you bring this down here for?"

"To make a point to Kylie," Sirius said, and then he handed her another piece of paper.

"Ways to improve my chances with Lily Evans," she began to read, and looked up at Sirius confused. "Sirius? Why are you showing me this?"

Sirius laughed. "Read number ten, then look at the photo."

"Improve at chess," she read. "Ah, this is James's."

"What?" Lily asked, and Kylie handed her the paper. James tried to snatch it in their transfer, but failed.

He folded his arms across his chest. "You were never supposed to see that," he said to Lily while glaring at Sirius.

Lily had fallen victim to a fit of giggles. "So how about a game of chess?" she hiccupped.

James smiled slightly. "You're not mad? Or disturbed? Or creeped out?" he asked.

She shook her head, still giggling. "James, it wasn't exactly a secret you liked me, given the number of times you asked me out every week. I'm just surprised you'd leave something like this lying around with someone like Sirius living in your same dormitory."

"He's _supposed_ to be my best mate, you know," he replied, again glaring at Sirius.

"But it's hilarious," Sirius responded. "And it'll make my point."

"So make your point then," James replied.

"Hm, maybe I should talk to you in private," Sirius muttered to Kylie, but more to himself. "Meh, you'll tell Lily everything anyway, then she'll tell James, so whatever. Okay, here goes," he smiled.

And he turned to Kylie. "Kylie, I'm not James." He said this with finality, like it was a statement that explained everything.

Kylie looked at him confused. "Um, yeah, I've noticed."

"I won't ever be James," he continued.

Kylie just looked at him baffled, completely unsure of where he was going with this.

"I won't ever do that," he said, pointing to the list and photo.

Kylie just continued to look at him confused.

"Are you okay with that?" he asked.

"Um, yeah?" Kylie responded.

"Good," Sirius replied, happily. "Well then that's settled."

"You really woke me up to ask me if you not being James is okay?" Kylie said with eyebrows raised.

"Well, no, not exactly," he responded.

"Sirius. What is it you are so inarticulately trying to say?" Kylie asked.

Sirius smiled slightly as he took a deep breath. "You sure you're ready for this?" he asked.

"Fire away," she replied.

"Okay," he responded, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Okay, James - James here is cut out to be a boyfriend. Well, a boyfriend to Lily. That photo and list there prove how dedicated he has already been to her. And I, well, I don't have anything like that to show you."

"I know," shrugged Kylie.

"But I - I want a chance," he stated.

"What sort of chance?"

"A chance to be with you."

Kylie's eyes widened in surprise, then she glanced at James and Lily, who were both looking at her in surprise, too. Kylie opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. She then suddenly stood up and walked over to him. She punched him on the arm.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" he yelped. "Here I was expecting you to dive into my arms lovingly."

"Did someone give you a love potion? Or is this a dare? Or are you confunded?" she asked.

"No, this is the truth, Kyles," Sirius replied honestly.

"Then what changed your mind? I thought you - what was it you told me end of last term? - oh yeah - ' you don't _do_ girlfriends,'" she responded.

Sirius looked at James and Lily, then back at Kylie. "I suppose they did," he said, referring to James and Lily.

Kylie looked over at James and Lily, too, who shifted slightly uncomfortably. This conversation had at first been funny, but it was turning far more serious and seemed like it should be private. Kylie sighed.

"I'm not Lily, Sirius," she stated.

"I know," he beamed. "I wouldn't want you if you were ('No offense, Lils,' he added, and Lily shrugged in response)."

Kylie stood standing facing Sirius completely emotionless for a moment, but suddenly, her face broke into a smile, too.

"I know you're going to break my heart," she said, still grinning.

"Probably," Sirius agreed jokingly, but he knew there was an element of truth behind the statement.

Kylie bit her lip for a moment, knowing that if she didn't give Sirius a chance, she'd always wonder what could have been between them. And so, she held out her hand, as if to shake his. "Let's give this a try," she said.

Sirius looked down at her hand and laughed. "You want to give a relationship a try, and you try to kick it off with a hand shake? Not going to work for me," he said. And he grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her body up to his.

Sirius glanced at James and Lily. "I think we may need privacy now," he said with a boyish grin.

"Yep!" James said quickly, helping Lily to her feet.

"Breakfast?" she asked.

"Sounds great," he replied. And the two shuffled rapidly out of the portrait hole. Sirius and Kylie were already sharing their first kiss (as boyfriend and girlfriend) before the portrait was shut.

*****

When James and Lily walked into the Great Hall, they weren't the only ones there. Snape was sitting with Nott and Avery, their heads bent in deep conversation. A group of Ravenclaws was also sitting at their table, down at the end closest to the teacher's table. They had books spread out around them, definitely living up to their brainy reputation.

Snape looked up when James and Lily walked in, catching Lily's eye. His face remained expressionless, but Lily knew that hers did not. She realized that since today meant she had been in a relationship with James for more than a month, it also meant that her friendship with Snape had been disbanded more than month. She gave him a small smile, which he looked like he almost tried to return. But then he looked at James, who at that moment had grabbed Lily's hand to lead her to the Gryffindor table, completely oblivious of Lily and Snape's interaction, and his expression turned stoic. He reverted his attention back to Nott and Avery, and began whispering rapidly, never looking at Lily again.

Lily felt a pang in her stomach as she let James lead her to the table. She missed Snape, but as soon as James sat down opposite her and looked her in the eyes, Snape left her mind. She was James's, completely.

"So what do you make of those two?" James said, referring to Kylie and Sirius. He began helping himself to a healthy portion of eggs and bacon.

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "That was possibly the strangest way to ask a person to be a girlfriend I have ever seen. Thank you, James, for not being _that_ weird. - Or wait, maybe you are that weird," and she pulled out the list and picture that had been in her pocket, laughing.

"That needs to be disposed of," James laughed with her. "That's incriminating there."

"No way! This is proof of how crazy you've always been about me. I'm keeping it forever," she replied.

"Forever, eh? Didn't take me long to get you on the forever mentality, did it?" he smiled.

"Ha-Ha," she replied. "Oh! I just remembered, I need to pick up those lists to tally who's staying at Hogwarts for Christmas from McGonagall's office."

Sirius and Kylie then walked through the door, and made their way over to James and Lily, hand-in-hand.

"I think I'm going to go do it now, before I get too distracted by those two," Lily said.

"You want me to come with you?" James asked.

"Don't be silly. You just started eating and I'll be back in just a minute," she replied. And she got up and smiled to Sirius and Kylie as they passed. "I'll be right back!" she told them.

Lily quickly walked to McGonogall's office and grabbed the lists that had been left in a folder next to the door. The corridors were still deserted, proving the castle was definitely very sleepy this Saturday morning. Just as she was turning back, she heard footsteps echoing down the hall, and she looked up to see a dark head approaching her.

"Hi," said Snape.

"Hi," Lily responded, startled he was speaking to her.

They stood there for a moment in silence, looking at each other. Lily shifted uncomfortably, dying to know what Snape was thinking and why he had followed her. His expression was completely unreadable.

"I want to ask you something," he said.

"Okay, go ahead," she replied.

"Do you love him?" he asked.

"What?" she said, surprised.

"Do you love him? James?" he clarified.

Lily looked at him stunned for a moment. That was not a question she had been expecting.

"I - I," she stuttered. Then she closed her mouth and stayed quiet a moment.

"I suppose I do," she finally said.

A flicker of sadness passed across his eyes, but in a blink it was gone. He nodded his head, and with a wave of his cloak, he was striding past her down the hallway toward the Slytherin dungeons. Lily stood frozen for a moment, realizing she had forgotten to breathe during their conversation. She heard more footsteps coming down the hall and looked up to see another dark head approaching her.

"You look like a doe in headlights," James told her.

Lily smiled, and shook her head. "I thought you were going to stay and eat breakfast," she said.

"I missed you," he replied, and he pulled her into a hug.

She nuzzled her face against his chest, and instantly, all bad feelings dissipated. She hugged him for a few more moments, reveling in the sense of warmth and security his hugs brought her. She began to pull away, but he pulled her closer and bent over slightly bringing his mouth next to her ear.

"And I love you, too," he whispered.

She pulled away quickly. "You heard that?" she asked.

James smiled and nodded. He tilted her chin up to his, and kissed her lightly. "And it's something I hope to hear forever," he said, once he had pulled away.

Lily smiled as she looked into James's eyes, nodding her head slightly, and realizing with positivity that she was in fact in love with him. It no longer felt remotely strange to have feelings for James. In fact, being with him felt just blatantly right. And really, to Lily, forever felt like the perfectly reasonable amount of time to be with him. He held out his hand, and she took it, and together they walked back to the Great Hall.

**A/N: The end!!!!! I truly hope you enjoyed the whole story! And please, especially if you're reading this (which means you've probably read the whole story), write a review! I've spent, oh, like 50 hours writing this story, so please take 5 seconds to review in return. :D Seriously, you can submit good or bad thoughts on the story, I don't care – both will help me become a better writer. Thanks!!**

**Just as an FYI, I'm thinking about carrying on 'A Muggleborn Slytherin' as my next quest. If you like this story, and want to help me decide what I should write next, could you check out that story (it's only one chapter ~ 4,000 words) and let me know what you think of the intro? I will love you!**

**And finally, to my regular reviewers, you guys know who you are, THANK YOU sincerely. You have brought many smiles to my face and you are the reason this story is completed. **

**Lol, and my dog, Lily, is jumping all over me right now. I think she's trying to keep me from finishing! Haha. Okay, I'm done rambling – I think I'm just delaying because I will miss you all. :) It's been swell, really. Later days…**


	15. Epilogue

**A/N: Seriously - I'm floored. My story was hit 1,180 times on Tuesday when I posted the last chapter, which is like 700 more hits than I typically get. I had more reviews, more favorite lists adds, more everything! It was soooooo nice, and made the time I've put into the story feel so worthwhile. SO THANK YOU! :) :) I can't explain to you how giddy fanfiction emails make me, and you all made me smile all day!**

**So below I have written an epilogue. I maybe should delete it - I'm not sure if it adds anything to the story. But I've had this in my head for a while, so I thought I'd share. It takes place just before we are reacquainted with Sirius in the chapter 'Padfoot Returns' in the ****Goblet of Fire****. Hope you enjoy. :)**

The Chauvinistic Stag

_Epilogue_

Thick, gray clouds cluttered the sky as the residents of Hogsmeade scurried like ants from shop to shop to complete their morning chores before the hoards of students arrived. The locals knew that trying to brave Honeydukes, or Zonko's, or even the owl post was virtually impossible on a Hogwarts Saturday. It was great for business, though, and wonderfully entertaining, so no one ever complained.

Sirius wagged his tail slightly as he remembered his trips to Hogsmeade as a student; him and James bouncing through town any day that they chose, flirting with Madam Rosmerta, and stocking up on dungbombs; or showing Kylie the Zonko's secret passageway for the first time, and her screaming because a rat scurried by; or running through town in the dead of night with Peter, Remus, and James - the marauders - the kings of the school. He laughed to himself, as well as he could in dog form, as he thought of how stupid they were. But he didn't regret a minute of it.

But his laughter faltered as he thought about how he had never appreciated how good he had had it until now that it was gone. He took things for granted. Everything, in fact. Sirius swallowed hard as he tried to bury the feelings of utter sadness he knew would envelope him if he let them. No, he wouldn't think about Peter, and how he had double-crossed them all. And no, he wouldn't think about Remus, who was now more alone than ever before. And no, he wouldn't think about Kylie, who had moved to America after he had been sent to Azkaban. She never knew the truth. She thought he was the traitor. He had had a ring in his pocket the night that James and Lily had -

No, he wouldn't think about James and Lily.

He turned to walk back to the cave where Buckbeak was sheltered, but then he noticed a boulder about twenty feet below him. He had been trying to ignore that boulder since he had arrived on this mountain. But with his mind already on James and Lily, and the prospect of seeing Harry in a few short hours, he approached it.

He vividly remembered the day that James had brought them all here - the whole gang - himself, Lily, Remus, Kylie, Peter, and Britta. It was a few months after the school term had started in 1978 - so the year after they had graduated. It was a Sunday. The sun was hot, the breeze was nice; the day was perfect_. _

_While Lily was animatedly chatting to Kylie and Britta, James tossed Remus a camera - the same one, in fact, that had been used to capture his chess piece moment - just before everyone apparated to the mountainside. _

Looking back at that now, that should have tipped him, Sirius, off that something big was coming.

_They sat around that boulder for a while, talking about memories from school, and how life had changed since they had started working. Kylie sat on his lap - she was still with him them, and Lily sat on James's, until suddenly, James pushed Lily up, and jumped up himself, grabbing her hand._

_"I have something to show you," he said, and then he nodded his head to Remus for him to follow. Remus jumped up eagerly and smiled hugely, causing Lily to look at him suspiciously._

_"You all right, Remus?" Lily had asked._

_Remus just nodded and continued smiling in response._

_James lead Lily around the boulder, and naturally, everyone else followed, too. He ran his fingers once nervously through his hair, and then pointed to a side of the boulder, though he needn't have, Lily was already looking there._

_"Oh," she gasped._

_Then, "Oh!" she gasped much louder, throwing her hands up to her mouth. Remus started clicking away on the camera madly, and Sirius could no longer see James's head. Sirius pushed around the boulder to see his best friend on one knee, a small box opened in one hand._

_"Lily Evans," James said. " Will you marry me?"_

_Lily didn't respond, but she was nodding her head fervently, her red curls swaying with gusto. James pushed a small ring on to her finger, and then she pulled him to her - Sirius couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying, or both - and kissed him avidly, no sense that anyone else was watching - or that Remus was documenting it all on film. Kylie and Britta let out small cheers, and when James pulled away, his smile was unparalleled to anything Sirius had ever remembered._

Sirius trotted around the boulder, looking for the exact location where James had proposed. It didn't take him long to recognize the ridges in the ground, that even after fifteen or so years, still remained the same. He looked up at the boulder and whimpered slightly as he read the gleaming carvings still prominently etched into the stone.

J + L

27-10-1977

Forever

27-10-1978

Sirius howled once, unable to contain his emotions. In that moment, he made a pact with himself that James and Lily would live on forever through Harry. This was no longer a mission to be a good Godfather, or a friend to his best mate's son, but it was a fight to do everything he could to keep the forever of James and Lily possible. Through Harry, both James and Lily were still alive. And as long as Harry was still alive, James and Lily were, too.

The clouds were beginning to clear. The boy who lived would be here soon. The boy through whom James and Lily still lived would be here soon. Harry would be here soon.

**A/N: Okay, seriously, the end. :) I love you, Sirius! Is it sad that I actually teared up writing this? Wow. I can answer that - Yes. Lol.**

**Anyway, if you think this epilogue does not add anything to the story, could you let me know? This is my first time ever writing one, and I'm not sure if it really benefits the story. **

**Thanks one last time for the amazing support. If you could submit me a final review of your thoughts, it would surely be fantastic - ;) hint hint.**

**Reviews make me :D just like I hope this story made you :D.**

**J/L + MPP (no W) forever!!!**

**Later days.**

**Best,**

**Kate**


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